It was cold and damp on the morning of Saturday, May 6th, but summer must be on its way as Evans Youth Baseball officially kicked off its 2006 season with a parade, opening ceremonies and a full day of games representing most of the league’s divisions. The theme for Opening Day 2006 was “Hats Off to Our Sponsors and Volunteers.” The event began at 9:00 a.m. with a parade of most of the league’s forty-three teams, each marching behind a special banner of its own creation. Grand Marshall Buster T. Bison led the teams around EYB’s Bennett Road facility until they ended up circling the infield on Diamond #1 (Atti Field). Jillian Reitz of the Babe Ruth Girls Division Dodgers then led the crowd in the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Two former EYB players who passed away in tragic accidents over the past year were honored with ceremonial first pitches thrown on their behalf. The late Jason Hontz who played and umpired for EYB for many years was remembered with a first pitch thrown by his father Kenny Hontz. Similarly, rookie division ballplayer Zachary Byrne threw out a first pitch in honor of his uncle, the late Matthew Streubel, another former EYB player who is sadly missed. Additional ceremonial first pitches were thrown out by new Lake Shore Central Schools Superintendent, Jeffrey Rabey; the manager of the new Martin’s Store in Derby, Mike Nugent; and New Era Cap Company’s Vice President of Global Marketing, John DeWaal. Paige Anderson of the Babe Ruth Girls Division Pirates and Logan Smith of the Major Boys Division Giants served as catchers for the ceremonial tosses. Other highlights included the reciting of the “Code of Conduct of Babe Ruth League” led by Austin Smith and awarding of prizes for best team banners and the most cleverly decorated hats. EYB President Burt Reitz congratulated Greg West and Kevin Senior for being named as 2006 EYB “Volunteers of the Year” as named by the league’s Board of Directors. A group sing-along of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” closed the event. Evans Youth Baseball had quite a few reasons to celebrate. The league has grown to over 500 boys and girls between the ages of four and sixteen this year. Martin’s recently donated $5,000 for needed improvements to the kitchen area of the concessions stand. New Era Cap financed a badly needed driveway and parking lot project that is now complete. Because of these generous donations, EYB was able to use other dollars to replace the backstops on diamonds #1 and #2 and solve some electrical problems the ballpark was experiencing. “We live in a special place,” observed EYB President Burt Reitz. “So many businesses and people routinely come forward to help our league do what it does for our kids. We are all very fortunate.”