Thank you to the Fairfield Rotary Club for their generous donation of $500.00 and thank you to the Fairfield Civitan Club for their donation to the Challenger Baseball League. President, Alan Lakamp, was at the latest meeting to accept the donations in honor of the Challenger Baseball family.

Thank you to Doug Barry with BarryStaff for sponsoring our league and specifically supporting the Challenger Diamondbacks.

One of our very own Challenger Baseball players was recognized recently for her heroic acts and quick thinking to help save a little boys life. Carly Schon plays for the Challenger Nationals and we couldn’t be more proud of her! Read about Carly Schon’s bravery and heart wrenching story here.

Mark your calendar for the 2012 Opening Day Games at Crawford Woods on Hancock Avenue for Sunday, May 6th at 12:30pm. We are excited to kick off another great season of baseball for all. Parents should also pencil in Picture Day for Saturday, May 12th at the Janet Clemmons Center – times will be determined and communicated via team managers.

Keep in mind our 8th Annual Golf Outing is around the corner, save the date for May 20th for a noon kick off party sponsored by CIP Retail and J. Gumbo’s of Fairfield. Sponsorship Opportunities and Registration information can be found on our website.

Please check out the photos below to get a preview of our new field and the progress.

Schon Industrial (2 lanes)

Custom Construction & Painting (Dave Bucher)

Pinpoint Utility Inspection Services (Kenny Hubbard)

We enjoyed a great afternoon of fun on the lanes, a SUPER display of DANCING and some expert performance under pressure for our STRIKE BALL contest!

Thanks for coming out for the fun. I hope that you all had fun and will plan on joining us at our next event Sunday, May 20th, for our 8th Annual Golf Outing and Charity Auction at Beckett Ridge Country Club. Information and registration form can be found here.

Please contact me if you are interested in helping on the golf outing. We are looking for volunteers, sponsors and collecting auction items!

Our overall total for fundraising for this event was just under $800.00 ($795. and change)

Remember to thanks our sponsors, Pinpoint Utility Inspection,Custom Construction and Painting and Schon Industrial.

See you on the links May 20th!

Beverly Fenton

Fundraising Officer

Butler County Challenger Baseball

Sunday, February 12 from 2p to 5p please join us at Alleys on the River /COLUMBIA BOWLING LANES located at 954 Pyramid Hill Boulevard, Hamilton, Ohio 45011. Click here for directions

Click here to register for the event: Bowling Benefit for Butler County Challenger Baseball
For any questions please contact Bev Fenton at beverlyfenton@gmail.com

Thanks to the following Sponsors:

Schon Industrial (2 lanes)

Custom Construction & Painting (Dave Bucher)

Pinpoint Utility Inspection Services (Kenny Hubbard)

(Map can be found here: http://www.jvscinti.org/Area-Businesses/JVS-Employment-Center.aspx )

The meeting is set to start at 6pm, and we’d like for as many parents to attend as possible. We’ll be giving updates on the new field, going over league rules, and answering any questions or concerns that you may have.

We’d like to know how many folks to expect, so please let us know if you plan on attending by emailing us at bcchallengerbaseball@gmail.com If you cannot make this meeting, but you do have questions or concerns, please email them to us so that they can be addressed. All parents will be getting a copy of the meeting minutes emailed to them as quickly as possible.

{Attention Ladies of Butler County Challenger Baseball League} CATALOG SHOW ONLY – Actual event has been cancelled}

We are now having a catalog show that still benefits Butler County Challenger Baseball. You can use the name Butler county Challenger as the hostess name when placing your order. Orders are due by November 17th and they are shipped directly to your door. Again all profits will be donated to Challenger Baseball. Please follow this link for ordering: www.stelladot.com/amyclipson

**Don’t forget to send this link to family and friends!

Please contact Heather Davis or Beverly Fenton with any questions.

Thank you to those who supported us in our 1st annual Walk.Run.Roll.

A great big thank you to everyone who came out in the chilly weather Saturday, October 1 to Walk, Run and Roll in Support of Butler County Challenger Baseball!

If you didn’t make it, you missed a great time. Our teams ended up on local and national news, we hung out with Twister from the Cincinnati Cyclones and Gapper from the Cincinnati Reds. We even managed to get everyone together for some great group photos!

If you MEANT to come but just couldn’t break yourself away from your cozy fireplace and snuggly, you can still support the walk by sending your tax deductable donation to: Butler County Challenger Baseball, PO Box 18748, Fairfield, OH 45018

Thanks again for everyone’s support. Together we raised $3,242.00 for Challenger Baseball!

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Please join Butler County Challenger League for our first annual Walk, Run, and Roll to benefit Butler County Challenger League Baseball on Saturday, October 1, 2011 9 am to 12 pm at Fairfield Waterworks Park located at 5133 Groh Lane, Fairfield, OH 45014.

Money raised from the Walk, Run, and Roll will help pay for player’s uniforms, field maintenance, and other league expenses. If you register by September 15, 2011, you will receive a FREE event tee shirt. After September 15th, event tee shirts will be available for $10.00. Mail-in registrations and payment accepted till September 24, 2011, after this date please bring your registration and payment to the event. For those who register at the event, the price will be $15.00 per person.

We are going to have a great time walking, running and rolling together for Butler County Challenger Baseball.

NEWS FLASH: Guest appearances by Gapper of the Cincinnati Reds and Twister of the Cincinnati Cyclones (bring your camera)!

Plan on being part of the fun:

Please fill out the Walk, Run, and Roll registration form and return payment + form to:

Butler County Challenger Baseball PO Box 18748, Fairfield, OH 45018

*Don’t forget that you can create a team (and could win a prize for the largest team) of walkers!

For those who are walking, please download the pledge form to help get support and sponsor pledges for a flat fee for the entire event. Check with your family, friends, neighbors, school, church and places where you like to hang out. For those who sponsor you, pleasedownload and give them this receipt if they need it for their records.

Challenger Players – there is a chance to win prizes for your sponsorship pledge efforts!! Prizes will be awarded for:

• Most money raised by an individual
• Largest individual team
• Largest “Challenger” team (ie: Cubs, Nationals, Angels, etc)

**All registration fees are non-refundable. Butler County Challenger League is 501 (c3) TAX ID #26-4537630

We are also looking for volunteers and sponsors for this great event! If you know someone in the business community who would like to support us or if you would like to join our fundraising efforts, please contact Beverly Fenton or the Co-Chair of this event, Heather Davis.

Thank you to the following sponsors:

• Grippos
• Wal-Mart of Fairfield Twp
• FRAME USA
• The Eisen Agency
• us digital partners
• The Peck Family
• First Star Safety

Welcome to our new "Baseball Complex"

{Challenger Baseball Groundbreaking Ceremony}

This morning was both fun and exciting for Butler County Challenger Baseball as we broke ground in our official ground breaking ceremony surrounded by supporters and friends of Challenger. The ceremony began at 8:30 am on Thursday, August 18, 2011 with sunshine, donuts, and orange juice for all the guests – our players especially enjoyed the donuts the most and asked if they could have seconds a few times!

We were fortunate to have the Hamilton City Mayor, Patrick Moeller join us along with Bernadette Zimmerman with the Hamilton Community Foundation and Sam Hennelgarn, a senior at Ross High School, with the Youth Philanthropy Foundation and other supporters such as the Fairfield Township Fire Department and Jason Williams with the Butler County Convention and Visitors Bureau.  Of course we had many Challenger Baseball Players and their families join us as no ground breaking ceremony would be complete with out them. It was great to see our players so thankful and appreciative for everyone supporting them and their new field this morning. The players were especially happy to see the Fairfield Township Fire Department as they brought along several of their trucks for each of the kids to see and even get a chance to sit in the driver’s seat.

City of Hamilton Mayor, Patrick Moeller

Jesy Herron and Alan Lakamp began the ceremony by thanking the sponsors and supporters of Challenger Baseball and then turned the microphone over to Mayor Patrick Moeller to say a few words. One thing that really stood out from us was when Mayor Moeller stated the following, “this field is love in action.” How appropriate as it has taken a lot of hard work and dedication from many who love Challenger Baseball to make our new field a reality.

Just as we were wrapping up we were surprised by two local news stations that wanted to cover our groundbreaking ceremony. Thank you to Channel 19 and Channel 5 local news for helping us to spread the good word about Challenger Baseball. Also, thank you to 700 WLW for announcing our ceremony early this morning on the radio. We hope to have a copy of the videos from Channel 19 and Channel 5 to share with you but you can also look out for our news coverage today and this evening. Be sure to let us know if you saw Alan Lakamp and Challenger Baseball Players on the news! I think the kids did a great job of breaking ground 2 more times and standing by the sign for the media just so that they could have the chance to be on TV! Here is the actual video from FOX 19 News :

Hamilton Community Foundation and Youth Philanthropy Foundation - Thank you to our generous supporters!

Finally, thank you again to our sponsors and supporters who so graciously donated funds to Butler County Challenger Baseball allowing us to build this second field:

Hamilton Community Foundation
Youth Philanthropy Foundation
Hamilton & Fairfield Rotary Clubs
And all the Families & Grandparents of our baseball players!

**Our Field Manager, Dave Bucher, has recently informed us that progress for the field should begin next week and will take approximately 60 days to complete. Feel free to stop by our complex at Crawford Woods in Hamilton to see the progress for yourself.

Thank you to Jim Patton for the image!

After you have have all made it safely back home from Barberton, OH and the 2011 State Tournament I’d like to ask you all the same question. What does the Challenger Baseball State Tournament mean to you?

Lynn Cox, mother to Logan Cox from the Butler County Cardinals team has answered the question like this:

COACHES ARE EXCEPTIONAL WITH THE CHILDREN
HAPPY TO BE PART OF SUCH A FUN TIME
AWESOME PEOPLE TO SHARE THE WEEKEND WITH
LOADS OF FUN
LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT
EXCITING TO WATCH THE KIDS ENJOY IT SO MUCH
NICE PEOPLE AND A NICE TIME
GREAT FOR MAKING NEW FRIENDSHIPS
EVER LASTING MEMORIES
REMARKABLE

One of our coaches, George Herron, wrote a great blog post on the weekend and his experience with Challenger Baseball over the last four years. You can read his post here: Challenger Weekend

Tell us how you would answer the question! Don’t forget to view our photos and you have any to contribute, please email to bcchallengerbaseball@gmail.com