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JUNE 16, 2021
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL XXXI • NO 17
Christiana Dedicates Hometown Heroes Banners BY FRANCINE FULTON
The PICO Ironmen, a professional baseball team, once played in Parkesburg.
Chad Naggy has established a mini museum at PICO Field, which was once the home of the professional baseball team the PICO Ironmen.
Those who drive through the Borough of Christiana may notice some newly placed Hometown Heroes banners, which honor local servicemen and women who are currently in the military, as well as living and deceased veterans. The banners were dedicated on May 30 by the Christiana Lions Club, which spearheaded the effort
Parkesburg To Host Baseball Festival BY FRANCINE FULTON
arkesburg, which once had its own professional baseball team called the PICO Ironmen, will celebrate its baseball history with a five-day Baseball Festival at Minch Park, 111 West St., Parkesburg, from Saturday, June 26, through Wednesday, June 30. The event, to be presented by the South Eastern Pennsylvania Travel Baseball Association (SEPTBA), will include baseball games featuring the Elkton Eclipse and the Keystone Baseball Club of Harrisburg, which will play 1860s-style baseball; a classic car show with prizes; a wiffle ball tournament; wood bat games; and food.
Efforts are being made to restore PICO Field, which was once the home field for the PICO Ironmen.
June 28 and June 29, as well. A wiffle ball tournament will begin on June 27, with semifinals on June 28 and the championship on June 29. June 30 will be an attempt at the largest game of catch at 7 p.m. A complete schedule of events can be found at www.septba.com/baseball-festival. The event is being planned by Chad Naggy, SEPTBA president and commissioner, who founded the organization in 2016 as an avenue for young ballplayers to compete. SEPTBA’s motto is “Gentlemen First, Ball Players Second.” Helping with the festival is borough council member Josh Mellinger, along with Cathy Wilde Christ, whose father, the late Thaddeus “Bud” Wilde, owned a photograph collection from the original PICO team. “Kathy and Josh came up to idea to have a car show. We started building events around the weekend and it began to grow into a festival,” Naggy said. “It’s all to raise money for the baseball (fields). There are two fields at Minch Park upper and lower. The upper field is where the Ironmen played. I’m trying to make the upper field the way it was in 1916.”
David’s Drive 831 (DD831), a nonprofit charity created to help veterans, was the recipient of the 2021 American Spirit Award presented by the Veterans Health Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Jennifer Lilly, chief of voluntary service for the Coatesville VA Medical Center, nominated DD831 for the work it does to improve the lives of veterans, including those who reside at the center and others who live in the community. There were 70 nominees total nationwide.
See Baseball Festival pg 2
See David’s Drive pg 5
See Hometown Heroes pg 7
The Christiana Lions Club Banner Committee includes (from left) Connie Macon, Steve Shivery and Lynn Steele.
David’s Drive Charity Wins National Award
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Auction Will Aid Centers . . . . . . . . . . . .2
BY FRANCINE FULTON
3rd Annual An nnual
Memorial Day Parade Held In Parkesburg . . . . . .3 Business Directory . . . . . .3 Community Calendar . . . .8 House Of Worship . . . . . .12 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . .13
Saturday, June 19th 11am-3pm
To Register call 717-442-8280 or email sfsmarketing@stoltzfusfeed.com
All cars, trucks, motorcycles are welcome: hot rods, muscle, classic, imports
Held at 80 Route 41, Gap PA
R072411
Food • Door Prizes • Dash Plaques • Awards PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Engle Printing Co
POSTMASTER: PLEASE DELIVER JUN. 16, 2021
Postal Patron
OCC B
P
Attendees will also learn about the history of the Ironmen team, which was created by Horace Beale Jr., president of the Parkesburg Iron Company (PICO). His team played at PICO Field, known today as Minch Park, where it faced players like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Casey Stengel. All proceeds from the festival will benefit the restoration of the original PICO field. The event will open on June 26 with a home run derby contest, the classic car show and the 1860s baseball games. Other activities have been set, including an 11U wood bat game on June 27 and 16U wood bat games on
to have the banners created and installed throughout the borough. On the same day, the Lions met at Chantry Place to hold a dedication ceremony for three collages that depict all of the current banners. “The collages are replicas of all 63 banners that hang around town,” explained Lions Club member Steve Shivery. “People can go to borough hall and see all of them and get a map that gives directions where each one of them hangs.” Along with the collages, visitors to borough hall, 10 W. Slokom Ave., Christiana, can view a poster that features casual shots of the servicemen and women that were submitted by their families but not included on the banners. “They had an option to send us candid shots. There is a one of a man standing in front of a cannon and one looking out of a bunker,” Shivery noted.
