Fairgrounds gets a facelift – Softball complex adds new boards, scorekeeper building

And this spring things have been even busier at the local ballparks, with some major renovation projects taking place prior to the beginning of the tournament and league seasons.

Warren County Church League, Inc., oversees the fields, and has put in numerous hours of volunteer labor and benefited from several donors to continue its efforts to improve the complex.

Most notably, this year the fairgrounds fields received two brand new, state-of-the-art scoreboards, courtesy of the local Dr Pepper Bottling Company, and members of the church league board of directors have constructed a new, two-story scorekeepers? station between their main fields.

WCCL president Terry Beard and board member Dewayne Summers began constructing the building in February, and were aided in their efforts by donations by Ben Lomand Telephone and several other parties which wished to remain anonymous. The building will allow scorekeepers for weekend tournaments and league play to run the new scoreboards in a covered, climate-controlled setting, and also has a ground-floor area which can be used for equipment storage.

?They?ve put in a lot of work, and we were fortunate to get some donations to help cover the costs,? said WCCL treasurer Mary Roller. ?We try to do everything we can to cut expenses, so the donations and their volunteer labor helped out a lot, and it really looks great.?

Money needed to operate the fairgrounds complex comes from church league fees, field rental for practices and weekend tournaments, outfield sign sponsorships and parking fees during the yearly A&L Fair. Balanced against the expenses of running the complex, Roller said the church league usually takes in ?just about? enough money to break even.

The church league is currently hoping a local benefactor will donate their time and/or equipment to help dig a trench to the new building, to allow permanent electricity hookups, and is always willing to sell outfield signs, rent fields for practices, or accept any donations.

Church league play in the men?s, women?s and youth divisions begins at the fairgrounds Tuesday night.