The Geneseo Baseball Boosters are ready to celebrate 29 years of growth and success with the annual trivia night and fundraiser effort scheduled for Saturday, Feb 21 at the Geneseo Community Center. This year a very special recognition will be included. The founding booster organizer, Ken Pippin, passed away in January and he will be honored with an ‘in memoriam’ trivia table and an opportunity for baseball alums, community members and current booster and baseball supporters to make special donations in Ken’s name. Funds donated will be used for continued support of the high school baseball program and field projects.

The spring of 1997 saw seventeen days of rain (no outside/baseball activity) and thirteen game rainouts. The only available practice facility was the high school gym….an area being shared with every other outdoor spring sport, musical events and daily classes. Batting practice became games of pepper against the wooden bleachers and conditioning was sprints in the hallways. Ken Pippin’s son Sean was a junior, a lover of baseball and member of a team desperate for some baseball competition. Ken spent every afternoon working the old clay(new/modern at that time) field at Richmond Hill trying to get it in playable condition only to watch the skies open and another downpour by mid afternoon…for seventeen straight days!

It was during one of these afternoon ‘work sessions’ that the idea of the baseball booster organization was born. (Literally a brain STORMing session)With no school funds to work with and a very limited sport budget Ken recruited a few others to start some revenue producing projects to help improve the facility, purchase some needed team equipment and to boost the morale of a team anxious for some real competition. Dan and Betsy Brudos fronted funds to purchase sweatshirts and warmup pants for the team and to sell to parents and fans. Ken bought a shop vac and a pump to help suck rainwater off the field and soon the parents, and team, bought into the idea that it takes all hands on deck to salvage a season quickly getting washed away.

What started as a devoted group of willing parents soon became a slate of officers and an organized booster club was born. Cathy Wright, Doug Whisker, Betsy Brudos and Ken put their heads together and started what was the inaugural Geneseo High School Baseball Boosters. Funds were raised through spirit wear sales, concessions were sold out of the trunks of cars, double header meals were provided by parents willing to donate food and time and the boys got to play some spring baseball.

Looking back on those early years and seeing the changes that have been made including the addition of the GFAC facility with batting cages and space to practice even on cold or rainy days, uniforms and equipment supplied through an increased athletic budget, improved playing and practice facilities at Bollen field and the complete overhaul of Stone Field at Richmond Hill that has made it a premier high school baseball facility and the envy of baseball teams throughout the area. More especially is what started as Ken’s hard work and volunteer spirit has become a program at a facility that makes Geneseo proud and one that doesn’t require maintenance by a few hard working parents with a shop vac, water pump and a few rakes who are motivated and anxious to watch their boys play the game they love.

For trivia night information go to Geneseo Maple Leafs Baseball on Facebook. For donations to the Booster Club in memory of Ken Pippin send checks payable to Geneseo Baseball Boosters to treasurer, Amy Adriano, 621 Stone Church Ln, Geneseo, IL 61254 or Venmo@Geneseo-BaseballBooster.