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8 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, May 19,1993 Saturday at l:OOp.m. azainst Belleville Senior Baseball by Brad Kelly When the words "Play Ball" echo out through an umpire's mask at Soper Creek Park this Saturday, it will indeed be music to the ears ■ of Ron Cormier. That's because, after a long absence, absence, senior baseball is back in Bowmanville. The Bowmanville Falcons will take to the field in their much anticipated anticipated home opener against Belleville Belleville this Saturday. First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m. And that first pitch will bring to an end the monstrous task undertaken undertaken last year by Cormier to field a senior team in time for this season. season. ■ "At the end of last year, a bunch of players who had finished junior asked me to put a senior team together," together," recalled Cormier, in describing describing how the idea was conceived. conceived. He did nothing more at the time than promise to think about it. There was skepticism on his part about the time and dedication it would take from him and, more importantly, importantly, the players. He had also been told horror stories stories of the struggles another local team, the Newcastle Lakers, endured endured before they folded at the end of the 1990 season. After prospering prospering in their early years of existence, the team couldn't field enough players for the playoffs in their final final season. The key to putting the whole project together was securing the necessary funds from a sponsor willing to back a team. When Langley Langley Utilities • Contractors approached approached him, "everything fell into place after that," said Cormier. Once the idea of fielding a senior senior team for this season was put into effect, the tedious task of completing completing the necessary paperwork began. began. Approval was needed from the EOBA. In addition, securing practice practice and game time at Soper Creek Park were top priorities. After receiving encouragement from all of the parties concerned, a recruiting drive began. ' 'Every time someone dropped a name to me, I phoned them," Cormier said with a laugh. Now, after six long months of hard work and countless phone , calls, the team is ready; to get the home opener underway. "It's going to. take some juggling juggling yet," said Cormier, of setting his final roster, "Our outfield is pretty well set, but we still have a couple of holes to fill on the infield. We could also use some more pitching." In addition to the excitement of starting a new season, there is also some optimism in the camp of the Falcons as to how they will do this year. The addition of Bowmanville to ' the EOBA senior loop will bring the number of teams in the league to 13. Included are: Scarborough, Belleville, Orillia, Cobourg, Little Britain, Peterborough, Ajax, Markham, Markham, Kendal, Whitby, Kingston and Port Hope. Teams play a home-and-home series with each teàm in the league, for a 24-game schedule that mns to the end of July. Following that, league and OBA playdowris take place in August. The OBA finals for the respective classifications (A, B, C, D) are held Labour Day Weekend. Having never coached in the league before, Cormier is realistic . about his team's chances of making an impact in its first year. "I'm not looking for big things this year," said Cormier, who began began his coaching career in Scarborough Scarborough in 1967 with a minor softball team. For the past two years, he was with the TONB A juniors. "Basically, it's a three-year plan to bring a competitive team here." '" They managed to get a couple of exhibition games in against Kendal and Cobourg prior to the start of their season in Scarborough this past Sunday. So far, Cormier likes what he has seen. t'The bats are there, it's just a matter of getting the guys who haven't played for a few years some playing time." He will have plenty of time tp do that over the next three months. All the while, he will be keeping in mind that the objective objective of the regular season is to have the team ready for the OBA playoffs in August. It will likely be a battle between the Falcons, Little Britain and Markham to see who advances out of the EOBA as the 'D' representative. "We are going to lose a lot of games,", he predicted. "When you lose by four or five, that isn't bad. But when you get blown out of the park, that's when a lot of guys lose interest." That's one aspect of senior .baseball .baseball that he is hoping to avoid. Ron Cormier Following their home opener on Saturday, the Falcons will travel to Orillia on Sunday for a 1:00 p.m. start! Their next home game is May 29 against Orillia. Clinic Teaches Skills to New Umpires To the Editor: Commercial Bingo Hall will create many benefits for our Community Community Last week's Statesman described a letter written to council by Mrs. Graham which provided a number of good reasons to establish a commercial commercial bingo hall in Bowmanville. She is right on with her arguments. I would like to add some additional perspective to the issue. A commercial bingo hall would provide the following benefits to the community: - Increased local business opportunities opportunities during the development and operation operation of a facility. • - Twenty to thirty full time and part time employment opportunities. - Increased tax base. - Increased licensing revenues for the town; up to $60,000 per year depending depending on the number of events per day. This sounds like ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT for our community. community. A lot of good people spend a lot of lime trying to figure out how to attract attract economic development to this community. Well, here's an opportunity opportunity that has come knocking at our doorstep. Unfortunately, it has not been fully recognized as an opportunity. opportunity. A commercial bingo hall, would infuse ONE QUARTER TO ONE HALF MILLION DOLLARS annual net profit into our local charitable and non profit organizations. For example, example, it is quite realistic for the hall, once established, to hold 10 events per week each netting an average take home profit for the sponsor of $700. These fundraising opportunities do not currently exist for our local organizations. organizations. In fact the irony is that many bingo players from our community community travel to the commercial halls in Oshawa, where their money ends up supporting Oshawa charities. And guess what? There is no way an organization organization in our community will ever get a licence to sponsor a bingo in Oshawa. The Newcastle Aquatic Club tried 3 years ago and was flatly refused as the profits would not benefit benefit Oshawa. Two weeks ago an article ap peared in the Statesman describing how the town would like the organizations organizations who rely on the town grants , to become more self sufficient to the . point where they do not have to rely on the grants at all. It would seem quite inconsistent to make this request request on one hand and on the other hand not support a commercial bingo hall which would allow many of these organizations to be self sufficient sufficient through bingo profits. I was pleased to see the express interest of the 71 citizens who signed the petition: They along with the numerous numerous local organizations who have backed the start up of a commercial hall can clearly see the benefits, and are indicative of growing support for this "opportunity." Council is not providing any indication indication that it wishes to support a commercial bingo hall at this time. It is felt that "Support at this time is premature" based on a current moratorium moratorium on new halls! I would suggest that "support in principle" at this time is appropriate. Then when the moratorium is lifted sometime this by Brad Kelly " A recruiting drive of sorts, aimed at attracting baseball umpires for the Town of Newcastle Baseball Association Association (TONBA) house league level, level, was a major success this past Saturday. Saturday. A total of 25 kids, 21 of whom have never umpired a game before, attended a one-day clinic held at the Orono Arena. All were attempting to attain their umpiring certificate for the upcoming season. "I've been really impressed with their attitude. They know a lot more about the game than I thought," said one of the instructors, John Witheridge, as the morning session of the clinic concluded. "I haven't had any dumb questions. questions. Nobody has asked mtfhow to session on rule interpretations in the morning, while in the afternoon, bases were laid out on the arena floor to simulate a baseball diamond. diamond. The idea was to give those attending attending the feeling of being in a real game, offering situations in which they may find themselves during the course of a season. Various stations were set up, with each one covering a different aspect of the game. Positioning, equipment, the strike zone, attitude and appearance were just some of the topics covered. "What we want these kids to know is the basics of the game," said Witheridge. Determining what a fair and foul ball is, whether a pitch was a strike throw somebody out of a game, and or ball, and what is considered a that is usually the first question," ' v ' mo " r,hn nf "It's not a high-paying job, but you get a lot of awards." kj In what is being referred to as aj tough economy, kids looking fori summer jobs are turning to umpiring! as a way of earning money. yj House league games pay $10 for- each game. Over the course of the] summer, this can provide a lot of extra extra spending money for kids. Those who completed the clinic, and achieved 70% on a written test at the conclusion, will be assigned- 'games with experienced umpires to help ease the pressure of controlling! a game. ; Jj Their progression will be closely; monitored. Should problems evolve,* these will be dealt with immediate-; iy. ' 'Vj "We're telling the boys to keep; WE'RE ROLLING OUT THE DEALS ON BF GOODRICH RADIAIS 245X50SR16T.A $124.00 275X50SR15T.A *124.00 295X50SR15T.A $133.00 275X60SR15T.A *122.00 255X60SR15T.A *112.00 245X60SR15T.A *109.00 235X60SR15T.A *105.00 215X65SR15T.A $ 95.00 195X60SR14T.A $' 89.00 215X60SR14T.A $ 92.00 215X70SR14T.A $ 94.00 205X70SR14T.A $ 91.00 All oth.r B.F. GOODRICH COMP VR xnd HR •villxbk.We win not b« knowingly undtttold. NO CHARGE! 4 year road hazard protection on BF GOODRICH and UNIROYALTIRES ASR ALLSEASON WHITE 175x80 R13 Ï..Ï $54.00 185x80 R13 *57.00 185x75 R14 *60.00 195x75 R14 *63.00 205x75 R14 $66.00 205x75 R15 *68.00 215x75 R15 *72.00 225x75 R15 *78.00 235x75 R15 *83.00 WhH« quantities lull USED TIRES from $20.00 INSTALLED AND BALANCED Dealer For Uniroyal, BF Goodrich, Michelin, Dunlop and Goodyear. lifts mav not be exacts » jjlystratr J VAN HEMMEN TIRES e SALES 317 Hopkins St., Whitby 666-2121 We carry the largest inventory ot light tmek tires in the area Mon • Thurs 6 00-5 30. Fri 8 00 - 5 00. Sal 8 00 ■ 2 00 We are now your Durham Region BF Goodrich Racing Headquarters year steps should be taken to support ; .i. and facilitate the start up of a com- j./yÿt"©ÙISmS mercial hall, in a manner which does I not harm the existing organizations^ running bingos, but instead providès»* them with a greater opportunity to" achieve their goals. Paul Von Hatten Past President Newcastle Aquatic Club Inc. New Golf Club In Southern Ontario, there are as many as 700,000 golfers who play on public courses. Until now, it was very expensive to belong to a golf club and have a handicap. But, beginning this past Monday, golfers can have an official handicap and a lot of other benefits as well thanks to the CFRB AM 1010 Golf Club. For just $10, golfers join the club via the CFRB interactive telephone system (The Access Line) at (416)- 872-CFRB. Handicaps arc calculated by The Access Line computer. Members just key in their game scores using a touch- tone telephone. Each golfer will have a personal i-d number to keep information information private. The net proceeds of the club fees go to the CFRB Children's Fund in support support of the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children. For more info, call (416) 924-5711. added Witheridge All areas of the Town of Newcastle Newcastle were well-represented at the clinic, clinic, with wanna-be umpires from Newcastle Village, Bowmanville, Courlicc, Orono and Tyrone in attendance. attendance. The clinic included a two-hour catch were just some of the basics of the games fair and safe. That s the, the game that the kids learned at the two tilings we're stressing. Especial-: clinic. ly the safety aspect," added Withe:) "This clinic will also help to make them a better ball player, because because they will have a better understanding understanding of the game," said Ken Key, who was one of the instructors at the clinic. ly the safety aspect, ridge. ■ 1 • Once out on the field, a lot of enthusiasm enthusiasm and the right attitude wilt, help the umpires work their way tip! quickly, and increase the number of; games they arc assigned. John Witheridge stresses the importance of being in the right position on the field to make a call during during a baseball game to an attentive group of umpires during a clinic that was held at the Orono Arena on' Saturday. Many of the youngsters in attendance will be out at area parks this summer umpiring gamesj for the very first time. BUGS mosquito ABOUT TOWN ■ at last count the entomologist community estimated there arc no less than 3,000 different mosquito species worldwide. 350 of these call North America home. During peak bug season almost every last one of them seem to end up in your own back yard. ■ mosquitoes don't (ly off and die after they bite. Throughout the mosquitoc's lifetime, it can bite up to six times. Making matters worse, almost every time a mosquito bites, it lays a new batch of eggs up to 200 at a time. Only female mosquitoes bite. ■ armed with incredible navigational skills to evade their predators, some mosquito species arc noted for remarkable longevity, with females living for five months or more. ■ beware of the full moon! Studies have\ shown a strong link between lunar activity and iheV number of mosquitoes out for an evening snack, The flight and biting activity of one species Increases by more than 500 per cent on nights with a full moon. ■ put on the repellent and relax! Nervous, fidgety people arc more prone to mosquito attacks, When purchasing repellents always check the label for a Canadian government-assigned PCP number to assure long-lasting protection, Leading brands such as OFF!, Deep Woods anil Sklntasllc all catty this registration on the label, ■ the Ini:: of a mosmiito has to rank as one of the most annoying sounds of all-time, especially when they buzz around your earlobes just ns you're trying to get to sleep. tmg Nn- ■ -Wfii The buzzing noise is made by the mosquitoc's wings fluttering from 250 to 600 times a second. ■ take cover! Mosquitoes can sense a person from up to six metres away. They arc attracted primarily by heat, light, moisture and carbon dioxide, and dislike direct sunlight, smoke and wind. Mosquito activity peaks at dawn and dusk. ■ planning a long stint in the outdoors? Then don't forget to freshen up! Sweat that builds up over successive days is a strong alt raclant to mosquitoes. ■ if it holds water or retains moisture -- regardless of how small it is -- consider it a possible mosquito nesting area. liven fruit husks and empty snail shells can hold enough water to cultivate larvae. ■ with certain species, mosquito eggs can survive in a dried state for up to five years, and all it takes is little rainfall to trigger development. ■ in prime breeding conditions and over a period as short as 21 days, the first, second and third generations resulting from an initial population of 1,000 adult female mosquitoes can number as high as 798,000. mosquitoes aren't only out In force In late Spring. Mosquito species' different hatching time i v tables make them a \ \ 3-season problem. the mosquito can cover distances as great as 500 km over its lifetime. ■ although not common, encephalitis (a disease that can lie spread by mosquitoes) has claimed the lives of hundreds of Canadians since the 1930's, I hey are also tiie vector of heart worm, a problem with many animals. SOURCE: S.C JOHNSON WAX McGregor I.D.A. Drugs 5 King St. W. 623-5792 Bowmanville