Do you remember the commons?
How about little England?
Just drive down Margaret St. and near the end on the right is the ball park a.k.a. the commons and at the very end is Little England.
Growing up I played in the commons in the bull rushes playing hide n go seek and had a lot of fun catching minnows and all the other fun things kids do growing up. We played ball at school and played ball when we got home and when it got dark, we all played kick the can.
Ball was big in the old days on the market square, ball finally outgrew the market square and the fair grounds was too busy so a group of men got together and made the gem of Ontario. All the teams that use to play here all said it was one of the best ball diamonds in Ontario.
I've seen a lot of ball over the years and still play ball for over 35 years on those diamonds and still enjoy playing and watching the game.
I worked with Bill Croft(Wm. Croft Athletic Field) looking after the ballpark dragging and marking the diamonds until Bill passed away.
I still came to the ball park every night to watch ;just living 5 houses down the street in Little England.
After I got married and moved a block over onto Marshall St. (walking distance) of the ballpark.
My wife and I both played so are kids grew up at the park too. Then when my kids were old enough, they played ball.
Can u believe their were 5 diamonds going on at once; ball was booming in Meaford.
The civic holiday tournament at one time had 36 teams. You dare not leave your seat when meaford was playing or you wouldn't find a seat when you got back, the bleachers were full. At the peak, we had t-ball,3 pitch, squirt, pee wee,bantam,juvenile,midget,girls, woman's men's town league and the big team in Georgian Bay Softball League.
Every night ball and nothing was bigger then the Friday night game at the park with the big team(mels. peters, merchants miskies,mavericks and then the applekings.
Wow! what a crowd and what a game.
Ball at its best!
We had so many teams for what ever age or sex.
What happened to having fun? What happened to ball?
Is it the computers?i-pod?gameboys?wii?phones?texting?
We had a black and white TV with 3 channels - Bonanza and Ed Sullivan show were the only shows worth coming inside for.
We had better things to do, then to sit around watching the boob tube.
So where have all the ball players gone?
One kids team and 10 teams in co-ed slow pitch.
Where are all those kids that want to more than workout their thumbs or sit in front of a monitor?
John McKay and myself love the game and still are part of baseball.
We want the kids to come down to the ballpark every Wed @ 7p.m. Play a little pickup / move ups have some fun and learn some ball.
We still like throwing the ball around,catching and hitting some balls out. If you would like too, we'll see you there!
Bring your parents too!
Because anyone can play! Its for fun!
See you at the Park
Garry Tippin
