Sunday held more than a regular worship for Fort Frances churchgoers who gathered for an annual baseball game and barbecue on June 7 at the St. Francis Sports Fields.
Now, the group is looking to have their game and social event grow throughout the community for years to come, according to organizer Randy Ricci.
For the past four years the New Beginnings and the Evangelical Fellowship churches in Fort Frances have gathered for a community baseball game. This year, members of the Evangelical Covenant Church joined the roster.
Ricci is a former member of New Beginnings and currently attends service at the Evangelical Covenant. He said they got the idea to start holding these games so that members of different congregations could have a fun and friendly way to interact outside of the church.
“I talked to the pastors about it, and they all thought it was a great idea, and it almost took on life its own,” Ricci said. “It’s just neat to see people come together and help out with the barbecues, get the tables and get the food together. Everybody from the churches pitches in to help with the food. We have a picnic and just visit with one another from the different churches. Afterwards, we have a baseball game.”
Although things get competitive in the diamond, everyone is there to have a good time and enjoy some fun with fellow community members. “We just have fun just playing baseball at the end of it,” Ricci said.
Looking to expand the event for future years with bigger teams and more people coming out to socialize, Ricci says if someone who isn’t a member of any parish wants to come out and visit, play ball or just enjoy some food, they’re more than welcome.
“It’s open to anyone who wants to come out,” he said. “I talked to somebody that was scared of church. I told them, ‘Just come on out, you’ll have a blast.’”
However, expanding to more participants means needing to also grow volunteers, support and organizers
“I want to expand the leadership and have a bit of a bigger committee. The more people you get involved, the more ideas that you’re going to get,” Ricci said.
Currently, the group has volunteers to cook, bring food, set up, tear down and tidy things up before they leave. Ricci said they would just need more people to help out with general tasks if they expanded enough.
Ricci also plans to start reaching out to more organizations for support. “I want to talk to more businesses and see if there’s anything they can help out with.”
This year’s gathering received assistance from Kitchen Creek Golf Club, who lent out two golf carts for to help people with mobility issues get around the field.
Anyone who wants to get involved with the organizing or volunteering to help out for next year’s game and barbecue can reach out to Ricci by emailing ricci.randy98@gmail.com.
