It was a brisk autumn afternoon but the thoughts of the scores of children and parents of the St. Anselm Youth Activities Organization were on spring 2018 and the start of a new, full season of play on the renovated St. Anselm Field, located at Fort Hamilton Parkway and 78th Street.
The effort to renovate the field, a long-term project (perhaps longer than anyone originally envisioned) was initiated in 2013 and extended through the Youth Activities Organization presidencies of Pam Pazarecki and John Adams to current president Jim Condon. The project, costing 2.5 million dollars – 1.5 million from New York City Council Member Vincent Gentile and 1 million from former Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz – took years to bring to completion.
Jim Condon, president of Youth Activities, happily compared the new field with its artificial turf, dugouts, grandstands, storage, and landscaping to the hard surfaced, beat-up tar that had been the “old” field, that had been completely unsuitable for play.
The opening, with music provided by the McKinley Junior High School Band, featured a “ribbon-cutting” attended by City and Community Board 10 dignitaries, including Martin Maher, Borough Commissioner of the NYC Department of Parks, City Council Member Vincent Gentile, and Monsignor Maloney, who offered the Benediction, as well as Eileen Johnson and Jim Condon of Youth Activities.
For more of the wonderful programs offered by the St. Anselm Youth Activities Organization for our children – made possible by the volunteering of countless parents (thank you!!!) – visit www.stanselmbayridge.organd click on Youth Activities on the menu bar.
We are sure that the children and parents of St. Anselm’s Youth Activities Softball teams are looking forward to the start of the 2018 season on their new field. We wish them many happy (and winning) games in the upcoming season and the seasons to come.
All the best,
The St. Anselm Publicity Committee