By Bruce Karnick

[email protected]

Each year, the Hastings Hawks lead a clean-up day at Veterans Park Saturday as part of the city planned park cleanup day. Normally held on Earth Day, the citywide event encourages residents to get out and not only enjoy the 37 parks around town, but to be aware of the impact we can have on the planet.

Saturday, April 17th was a beautiful day to be out in a park cleaning. Over 40 volunteers joined in on the fun for a few hours in the morning. Players and board members from the Hawks, as well as players, coaches and other volunteers from HYAA’s 14 and 15 teams, and the High School 9th and 10th grade teams came out to get the field ready for the summer.

Getting the younger players out with the older guys teaches that baseball is more than the game. Field maintenance and pride in the facilities is just as important, if not more so than the skills learned on the field. The group did 120 hours’ worth of maintenance and cleaning in under three hours and that work will have a dramatic impact on the games played this summer.

Each clean-up day consists of the normal, yearly needs like deep cleaning the concessions stand, bathrooms, shed, dugouts, bleachers, and press box that have been closed for the previous six months. Then, on the field, and grounds pulling weeds, quickly cleaning up edges and filling in low spots, raking the entire fence line to clean up leaves and sticks and then a big project like painting buildings, or one year installing the yellow fence topper.

The big project for Saturday was removing the lips on the infield edges of the grass and dirt transitions, straightening the edges and filling in low spots of the field. These repairs help maintain a safe, consistent playing surface by eliminating tripping hazards and bumps that can cause bad hops of the baseball. Even with good maintenance, this project needs to take place every few years as a major repair.

The big projects for this year do not stop there. The outfield fence is due for an upgrade too, but the supplies were not able to make it on time. The Hawks are planning to install a green windscreen to the outfield fence which will improve field level sight for players and fans alike. The City of Hastings has to bring the street roller out to drive over the infield, a key piece to yearly maintenance and safety as well. Once the field is rolled, it looks almost as nice as a putting green and plays really well.

At the end of the morning, Pizza Hut delivered lunch for all the volunteers and players stayed after to practice and hang out for the first time at the ballpark.

Veterans Park is really a hidden gem for Hastings. there are baseball games there every week for the entire summer. Usually three to five games a week. The atmosphere and facilities provide a great experience for fans and players alike thanks to volunteers like those that showed up Saturday to help. A huge thank you also needs to go out to the businesses that have supported the projects at the field and that have supported the Hawks with their donations.

Donations to the park are always needed as there are plenty of projects to do. The scoreboard is the biggest project with the most urgency for need. It was installed in 1998 and the technology is not only outdated, but no longer supported. Refurbishing the board is estimated to cost around $20,000 and replacing it completely $25,000-30,000. This is a great sponsorship opportunity for any area large business. The signs on the scoreboard now have been there for 23 years. For one business, that is around $800 to $1,000 a year to reach 10,000 people just from the baseball games. Plus, all the people that walk and bike through the park, all the softball players and fans that see the sign. Where else can you get advertising for under five cents per person and help decades worth of youth?

The backstop is the biggest safety sided project as far as needs are concerned and would have the biggest impact on the fan experience. But the cost of that project is close to $12,000.

If you or someone you know is looking for a great way to give back to the City of Hastings, your donations are tax deductible and can be dedicated to a specific project at Vets. Donations would be to the City directly and the Hawks can help facilitate it. Contact [email protected] if you would like to help out.

The Hawks help host 75+ baseball games each summer and often another 20+ events in the fall at Vererans Park. The Hawks season opener is April 30th versus Spring Valley at 7:30 at Veterans Park. The Hastings Raiders are scheduled to host a double header at the park on May 7th versus South St. Paul. First game starts at 5:00 and concessions will be open. See ya at Vets!

The Raider players and coaches worked hard on their summer home field, here they are taking a well deserved break. There was over two tons of dirt and yard waste moved in a short period of time on Saturday. Photo by Jasmine Nordine.

Raider players help load the ag-lime into the cart to be used around the facility. Nearly a full dump truck load of dirt was moved by the boys throughout the day. Photo by Jasmine Nordine