Green Bay East Side Youth Baseball

Dear GBESYB Families,

We’ve got some exciting news to share with everyone!  As you’ve probably heard or seen by now, there has been some significant progress in the efforts to build a new concession stand and bathrooms that will also coincide with a city project to improve access to the park that will include a new parking lot, paved walkways to each field and a trailhead for the East River Trail system. 

One of the biggest roadblocks was a state law that made it difficult to proceed with projects of this size.  Through the relentless efforts of Dan Madigan of the Green Bay Optimist Club, that law was recently changed and the announcement was made a few weeks ago at our own Optimist Park (with 2 feet of snow on the ground still!) as the groundbreaking, cornerstone project of the new state law – Assembly Bill 821.  It was covered on the news and you can see it here:

http://www.wbay.com/video?vid=479040383

Between the Green Bay Optimist Club, GBESYB and numerous baseball families and friends, Optimist Park has undergone several improvements over the years including the construction and lighting of Optimist South, dugouts at North, scoreboards at both fields, batting cages at both fields as well as two projects in the works – a second batting cage at each field and the construction of covered dugouts at South.  NONE of these projects happen without the generous support of the people and organizations mentioned above and the new concession stand project is no different.

This is where we need YOUR help.  The plans for the concession stand have been drawn and a materials list has been made.  We are in need of the following building materials and MORE:

-          Concrete/Masonry

-          Metals, Lumber, Insulation, etc.

-          Door Frames/Openings

-          Plastering, Painting, Floor Coating

-          Plumbing - Toilet, Sinks, Accessories

-          Countertops, Cabinets 

-          HVAC, Electrical Wiring

-          Excavation, Site Stripping

-          Landscaping

-          …and more!

The Optimist Club of Green Bay has already made a significant donation to help jump start this project and now we’re once again reaching out to our baseball community for help. 

If you or anyone you know would be willing to donate time, materials or labor in any one of these areas, PLEASE let us know and we will send you the details of what is needed.  We have an ambitious goal of getting this started at the conclusion of our Spring/Summer season.  We hope that you will consider helping this become a reality and improving the experience of greatest game in the world…baseball…for our ballplayers, families and visitors at our own Optimist Park for generations to come!

For more information on how you can help or donate, please contact Eric Hunter at eric.b.hunter@charter.com OR Kent Klein at kmklein3495@gmail.com.

If you’re looking for some additional inspiration, just imagine how glorious it would be coming to your child’s ball game and being able to use an actual bathroom instead of a Porta-Potty….

Published: May 23, 2018