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Show A community newspaper serving residents and businesses on the west side of Salt Lake City Issue No. 20 ) May 2005 Baseball League elebrates Golden Poplar Grove Pulls off another Successful Earth Day Clean-up Anniversary A big thanks to the. approximately 80 — 90 volunteers, 90. volunteers, who came out on the - By Dale J. Neilson 50. the kids forgot about baseball,” but No, it’s not your mother-in-law. still won The Rose Park Baseball League, which plays on the northwest diamonds at Riverside Park, celebrates its golden anniversary this year. On April 16, Dick Nemelka, who ‘coached in the Rose Park league at Riverside Park from 1960-71. Not only have the league’s the game, said Erskine, fields been used for baseball, but ing. There was no bride or groom, they were also the backdrops for TV and movie productions. Back in the 1980s, the main diamond was featured in the motion picture ‘Sandlot’. In 2003, an LDS TV commercial was filmed there, depicting a vintage scoreboard and a girl hitting a home run, driving home the importance of families. Current players are building on the league’s tradition of team unity and hard work, said 14-year but there was plenty of baseball to coach Harold Mascarenas, who has go around. More serious their eyes fixated on the of a new season, seemed ried to it. Nemelka’s pitch is coached the league’s Construction Products Company (CPC) team for the last seven years. “A lot of kids who played in the league’s maiden season of 1955, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. “I think Dick enjoyed it,” said league president Jill Valdez. ““He had a big smile on his face. We had a really good day.” : No kidding. The electric atmosphere resembled a wedding celebration, in that people of all ages were snacking and socializ- fans, with first game to be mar| significant ow. Nifty, nifty, look who’s have come tire, wooden posts, fencing mate- rial and even a computer keyboard) that was unreachable from the bank. through this league. They’ ve learned teamwork, devel- because of his role in building the oped real close relationships and league into what it is today. He, they support each other.” Players among others, was there during also have to maintain “good Rose. Park’s formative years progrades” to play, he said. J elf Takenaka, who coaches a viding entertainment, drama and _ ultimately the rich history others - “st would buildupon... . Old-timer “Ti erry Lewis remembers Nemelka as an “early star’ who hit 18 homers as a 12 year-old. Nemelka later played | Peete and Ron Case eee said Rose Park is a good place to and Volunteer: cindy epider! aa Brett Matthews panes one of Six shopping carts out of the river during the 15th annual Earth Day Jordan River Clean Up on April 23. Photo by Jeff Salt, courtesy of Great Salt Lake Keepers © In addition, Salt Lake City Parks Dept. workers picked up three pickup truck loads of garbage that volunteers had deposited along the trail. Thanks also to the handful of volunteers from the Poplar Grove Community Council who helped organize the event and who served up sourdough pancakes, juice and coffee to volun- © teers. All involved contributed to yet another successful Earth Day Clean Up! To view other photos from that day, go to our website at www.thewestview.org . see the “levels of community. It pulls people together basically oe Kids. : Community and volunteer support for the league has been There was. also. Rose : Park | outstanding, according to its secreLions coach Lenny Treadway’s tary, Mary Sue Floisand. She said successful 1956 plot of home run sponsors like Neil’s Pro Service,. star Jim Baker’s suicide-squeeze Child’s Automotive, the Rose Park bunt to score two, sixth-inning runs Lions Club and Trophy Corner. in a 3-2 comeback league victory. “have been here forever.” But Baker favored the long ball, Floisand noted the contribuaccording to Lewis, who was a battions of former league presidents boy at that time. “I remember the Mike Hannah and John Middleton, tremendous power (Baker) had for who helped get the flagpoles a 12 year-old,” because “many installed (2002) and a scoreboard. times his ball would still be going Middleton’s son, Devan, 12, up when it cleared the fence” 183 recently made a long yellow ribft. away. bon, which flies under the Then there was ; coach Ralph American flag near the ball diaErskine’s 1963 Western Boys monds, in honor of his Utah Baseball Association all-stars National Guard father serving in (including the Lions, Mint Café, Iraq and the US military. “It was Intermountain Theaters and kinda neat to watch... It was Continental Bank), whose Days of touching that a young boy would ‘47 Parade float that year won first do that [for his father],” place in its sports division. Floisand. Maybe the Lions’ most enterOther presidents were: Russ taining game during their early Knight, Middleton and Mascare1970s WBBA World Series run nas. She also lauded the generous had nothing to do with baseball. contributions of coaches Takenaka When a rabbit ran across the field, and Danny Thompson. Lion players chased it away. “All basketball for BYU Utah Stars. Saturday after Earth Day to pick up garbage along the Jordan River Parkway Trail, spread woodchips and pull weeds at nearby garden sites, and pull trash out of the river with the aid of canoeists and a walking land support crew. Jeff Salt of Great Salt Lake Keepers led a team of nine canoeists who were instrumental in fishing out refuse (including a bed frame, several blankets, a the old Submission Deadline for our June 2005 “est: will be Wednesday, June 1 ivic Participation in Glendale Community By Charlotte Fife-Jepperson struggling to integrate a rapidly diversifying population, and according to a recent study done by a group of Glendale residents and University of Utah professors, this is affecting participation in local community councils. The study came about after the leadership of the Glendale Community Council changed abruptly in 2003. The then newly elected leaders, chair Erin Executive Director Irene Fisher, that facilitates mutually beneficial partnerships between the University of Utah and west-side neighborhoods. UNP committed to the Glendale project with the belief that this under-representation was a broader problem, affecting not only the Glendale Community Council, but also other west-side community councils who are facing similar demographic and economic changes. . “Limited local civic participation is an issue that is being dealt with in cities across the country,” said Wilson; 1st Vice Chair Janette Gonzales, and 2nd Vice Sarah Munro, UNP Assistant Director. “Back in the Chair Jesse Draper, were concerned about their obser- sixties, Portland was the ‘poster child’ of having set up neighborhood associations that served as a model for the rest of the aay They are now sttugeling with the same issues,” said Munro. UNP became interested in identifying a model to increase inclusion that could be useful for all community councils in the area. Glendale, like other west-side neighborhoods, is vation that the attendees of their community council meetings seemed very homogenous — mostly white and older-aged — not a true representation of their diverse neighborhood. In the spring of 2003, they asked University Neighborhood Partners (UNP) to help them figure out why so few ethnic minorities came to their meetings, and what could be done to encourage a more diverse participation in the Glendale Community Council. UNP is a three-year-old organization, headed by In 2004, the Glendale Community panne skip (GCP) was formed, made up of a group of Glendale See Glendale on page 2 |