Day of Little League activities begins with parade through Bordentown City.
By: Vanessa S. Holt
BORDENTOWN CITY When the first green buds appear on the trees and the streets are awash in pink and white petals when golden forsythia lines the sidewalks and winter takes its last frosty swipe at the air that is the time that any baseball fan will tell you is the real first day of the year. Opening Day.
An old tradition will make a comeback this weekend down those flower-lined streets when the Bordentown Little League will lead a parade through the streets of the city in celebration of Opening Day, culminating with an afternoon of activities in a competitive atmosphere at the Gilder Park.
The parade is set for 10 a.m. Saturday, with a rain date of noon Sunday.
Bordentown Little League President Pat Donohue said the league has not held a parade through the city streets in a long time 30 years or more according to some longtime residents who remember marching when they were young.
The parade will start at the corner of Park Street and Farnsworth Avenue, and will travel to Union Street, across Crosswicks Street and end at the Gilder Park complex.
The route was mapped out by Bordentown City Police Chief Matt Simmons with the support of Commissioner James Lynch, and police will escort the group along the route. Local fire and ambulance squads, the Greater Trenton Pipes and Drums (who practice their bagpipes at the Carslake Community Center on Crosswicks Street) also will join in the parade.
"The city (Commissioner John Wehrman and Public Works Director Bob Erickson) have been extremely accommodating and helpful, providing us with advice, support and resources as we have pulled this together," said Mr. Donohue.
Once the group arrives at the field, a brief ceremony will take place, in which a student will sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" and softball players will recite the Little League pledge.
Area restaurants will sell food to participants in the main parking lot, while teams will take part in skill competitions and activities for about two hours from noon to 2 p.m., moving through different stations where they will practice hitting, running and possibly even get to check their pitching speed with the help of a radar gun. A total of 16 stations are planned plus a "T-Ball Zone" for younger players, said Mr. Donohue.
A 2:30 p.m. high school game versus Gloucester Institute of Technology will top off the day.
A Chinese auction and used equipment sale also will be held to benefit a local family with an ill child, and auction items include a signed basketball shirt from Syracuse NCAA tourney star Jerry McNamara, said Mr. Donohue.
"It’s a growing league," said Mr. Donohue.
A regional organization, it encompasses Bordentown City and Township, Chesterfield, Fieldsboro, parts of Mansfield, Springfield and North Hanover. A total of 41 T-ball, baseball and softball teams and 501 players are part of the not-so-little league.
"We’re trying to build a stronger feeder program and relationship with the local school teams and Legion team," said Mr. Donohue.
Some of the high school players as well as the Bordentown Post 26 American Legion team coaches and players will help man the stations.
The league has been working with the city to construct a 6,000-square-foot indoor practice facility in the Gilder Complex on Crosswicks Street, said Mr. Donohue, which will help propel the city toward its goal of developing Gilder into a regional baseball venue. Families will be able to purchase a panel on which they can place the names and dates that their children participated in the league.
"I can’t stress enough that this project was driven by a committed group of volunteersapproximately a dozenwho have worked tirelessly on this for many weeks," said Mr. Donohue.
For more information on the league, visit its Web site at www.bordentownlittleleague.org.

