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PAGE 4B
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2008
Diamond Talk
Great time, fun promotions in the minors
I once saw the Blues Brothers
at a baseball game.
Often forgotten venues
of pure fun are the minor league
teams of Major League Baseball.
We are very lucky to be so close
to several minor league cities,
with another on the way.
Some of the most fun times I’ve
spent watching America’s past
time has been at a minor league
park. Many half inning breaks are
filled with a promotional stunt
meant to embarrass and/or reward
some unsuspecting fan. Unlike
watching a game at The Ted,
where the Braves’ organization
attempts to sell you something
after every third out, real enter
tainment abounds in the minors.
Here are a few things one might
see this year at a minor league
ballpark near you.
On May 10th - Mother’s Day
eve - the Port St. Lucie Mets will
hold an instructional camp for
mothers looking to refine their
hardball skills. If time allows,
the moms also will play a game
of wiffle ball while their families
look on.
One can enjoy midget wres
tling in the 40-minute pre-game
show on May 16th in North Little
Rock Arkansas, the home of the
Arkansas Travelers. If this isn’t
enough for you, catch the black
Elvis impersonator at the game
between innings.
If you yearn for the coun
try while at the old ballyard,
I suggest seeing Dairy Day at
the August 2nd Visalia Oaks
game. You will have to travel to
Visalia, California, however. This
California League team will be
putting on the event for the sec-
ond consec
utive year
thanks to a
partnership
with Land
O’ Lakes.
There will
be a pre
game cow
milking
contest,
and players
will wear
Holstein print jerseys and 1,000
fans will receive complimentary
cowbells. “It’s an udderly fun
time,” said Dairy Day coordinator
Jennifer Pendergraft.
Want to see what may be the
largest organized pillow fight?
Easy. Just attend the Charleston
River Dogs game at Charleston
on May 31st. Women players
from the PFL will be on the field
before the game, each armed
with a pillow (their weapon), and
going at the other team with a
vengeance.
The Fort Myers Miracle team
will help host what may be the
first valid election in Florida for
several years. Fans will be called
down from the stands randomly
and given the opportunity to
select their favorite bobble-head
presidential candidate. The candi
date whose bobble head is first to
run out will be declared the state’s
winner. To cast your ballot, be at
Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers
the week of August 4th.
Fans may partake in traditional
favorites like “Name That Tune”
and “The Price Is Right,” as well
as newer games shows like “Fear
Factor” and “Deal or No Deal” at
Lake Olmstead Stadium on May
22nd in Augusta. Bob Barker, it
is reported, will not be in atten
dance.
And finally, (where the heck
was this promotion when my
two boys were still at home?) for
those parents who cannot seem
to get their children to pick up
their dirty clothes, attend the New
Britain Rock Cats game in New
Britain, Conn. on August 20th.
The Rock Cats will be giving
away clothes hampers to every
family attending. They are careful
to point out that it’s up to you to
get your kids to put their clothes
in the hamper.
Other than these great promo
tional activities, attending a minor
league game guarantees the base
ball fan a sneak preview of up
and coming talent, talent that may
be seen soon in the majors. The
fans watch these minor leagues
games in a small park, where
every seat is great and very close
to the playing field. Tickets are
extremely inexpensive ($5 - $15
range) and the food and beverages
are equally affordable.
The closest team to Banks
County fans is just up I-85 in
Greenville, South Carolina. The
“Greenville Drive” team is an
affiliate of the Boston Red Sox,
and their one-year-old ballpark
is even modeled after the famous
Fenway Park in Boston. I encour
age all baseball fans and their
families to visit the Drive’s Fluor
Field this year.
John W. Rieken is an avid base
ball fan and Banks County resi
dent. E-mail comments about this
column to jrieken@windstream.
net.
john w.
rieken
Television taping set at Atlanta Dragway
Speed’s popular “Pinks All Out” television show
will be taping this Friday and Saturday at the Atlanta
Dragway.
The program features grass roots drag racers getting
the opportunity to win a share of $18,000 in prize
money, with $10,000 going to the winner.
The event is an open competition for door cars only.
Competitors must pass tech inspection based on the
NHRA rulebook.
Cars must run 12.99 seconds or quicker in the quar-
ter mile.
The event will also feature a variety of exhibitions
and competitions, and will provide on-track activities
throughout the Saturday shooting day.
A midway area will also be set up for local vendors,
manufacturers, supporters and local groups.
Spectator tickets are available for both days. For
more information on the upcoming taping, log on to
www.atlantadragway.com, or call the track office at
706-335-2301.
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ON-SITE INTERVIEWS
May 20 - 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. - Franklin Springs City Hall
If unable to attend go to www.mcgeorgia.com/10789 and submit application.
Down the Stretch
Reflecting on the ‘First Lady' of racing
W ith the recent historic
victories of Danica
Patrick in Indy car
and Ashley Force in NHRA
Funny Car competition, that
leaves one big question left to be
answered.
When will the glass ceiling be
broken in NASCAR?
Pundits are pointing towards the
aforementioned Patrick as the one
who could make that piece of his
tory come true. It’s been specu
lated that much like several of
her open wheel contemporaries,
Patrick could make the switch to
the stock car circuit in the near
future.
Regardless, there have been sev
eral talented ladies take the wheel
in NASCAR racing that were very
capable of winning.
Barnesville native Louise Smith
is always the first to jump to my
mind. Known as “The First Lady
of Racing,” Smith entered her
first race at an event promoted by
Big Bill France in South Carolina
around 1946. France was looking
for something to bring the fans
in, and felt a lady driver would do
the trick.
Smith was the driver chosen,
and finished third piloting a 1939
Ford modified.
The only problem was, nobody
had explained to her what the
checkered flag meant. As the
other drivers pulled off after the
race, Smith continued charging
around the track. Finally, an
official realized the problem, and
waved the red flag.
She didn’t have any problems
understanding the flags after that.
Smith raced sportsman and
modified cars for several years,
picking up wins all across the
south.
Smith was
also a driver
for France’s
fledgling
NASCAR
Grand
National
series, and
France used
her to pro
mote events
all over the
east coast.
But she was no novelty act -
she was a real racer.
She raced alongside the best
of the best, including Tim Flock,
Buck Baker, Curtis Turner and
Ralph Earnhardt. She raced at
some of the toughest tracks ever
to be built, including Daytona
Beach, Darlington, the famed
mile at Langhorne, and the
treacherous Lakewood Speedway
in Atlanta.
While she may not have broken
into the Grand National (now
Sprint Cup) victory lane, she did
pick up 38 victories in modified
events around the country.
One of the best stories about
Smith dates back to 1947, when
she borrowed her husband’s car to
go on vacation.
In reality, she took the car to
Daytona Beach to race it.
The only problem was, she had
trouble on the track, and wrecked
the car.
Smith took a bus back to her
home in Greenville, S.C., and told
her husband that the old Ford was
a lemon, and had broken down
near Augusta.
That was when her hus
band pulled out a copy of the
Greenville newspaper, which
showed a picture of her and the
wreck on the front page.
Another time she was rac
ing at a NASCAR event at
Hillsborough, N.C., when her car
went out of control, rolling end
over end, and coming to rest in
the woods.
Smith escaped injury in that
accident. Track workers dragged
the heap out of the woods, and
she climbed back inside, helmet
and goggles on, and posed for
photos while flashing a big smile.
Smith quit racing in 1956, but
her heart was always close to the
sport. I met her for the first time
at the Tim Flock Memorial event
held at Toccoa Speedway in 2001.
We talked for nearly an hour, and
she told me proudly about tell
ing famed television personality
David Letterman off on his show.
“He wanted to treat me like
I was a joke,” Smith said. She
would have none of it.
Smith was the first female racer
inducted into the International
Motorsports Hall of Fame back in
1999. She surely will not be the
last.
Smith passed away in April of
2006. The path that she blazed
and the people she touched can
still be seen today.
But the thing that I remember
about Louise Smith stems back to
the first meeting in 2001. When
the races started that night, she
was like a kid in a candy store.
She had an absolute ball watching
the cars tear around Toccoa’s little
dirt track.
Gender had nothing to do with
it. She was a racer, through and
through.
Brandon Reed is a reporter for
MainStreet Newspapers. E-mail
comments about this column to
brandon@mainstreetnews.com.
brandon
reed
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Unity Christian
Church
Will Celebrate
Homecoming
May 18, 2008
Guest Speaker:
Dr. Jim Donovan
"No Place Like Home"
The Choral Ensemble from Jackson County Comprehensive Hie
concert at 9:45 a.m. followed at 11:00 by guest speaker Dr. Jim Donovan
Minister at Southwest Christian Church in East Point, GA.
School will present a
- Senior
Dinner on the grounds will follow the service.
Call the church office for details - 706-652-3183
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