Rotary Family Day at the Ball Park on July 29 was a successful event despite the torrential downpour on the way to the park and the ominous weather after we arrived. The rains stopped and Rotary dignitaries and our event were recognized (image above; special thanks to Marge Verschuyl-Ogle from Springfield South for capturing this wonderful image). Our own Rod Buffington was recognized (far left, image above) and got to throw a first pitch after he received instructions from the Cardinals mascot (image on left). Numerous Rotary dignitaries joined Rod and our group (image below).
District Governor and former member of our club Neal Miller (image on left) was also seated in our section as was our past District Governor William Durall, his son and daughter-in-law (image below).
Here are a few images of Rotarians you should recognize (images below):
The game started about 2 hours late, and the Cubs beat the Cards 5 to 1. A good time was had by all, even the Cards fans. Rod announced on our bus on the way home that it's the 20th anniversary of the Rotary Family Day at the Ball Park fundraiser! In these 20 years, District 6460 has sold 43,000 baseball tickets and has raised over $580,000 for Literacy. He noted that we have sold enough tickets to fill the entire stadium. Wow! The applications for the 2023-2024 Literacy Grants are available on the District Website and are due by October 31, 2023. Our club has funded numerous great literacy project through this program.