Mother Nature Stops PRCUA's 2007 Softball Tournament!

(Photos) In the last week of August, the 53rd PRCUA National Softball Tournament, hosted by St. Thaddeus Soc. # 1584 in Toledo, Ohio, was planned to take place. As many of you know, during the last few weeks of August the entire Midwest was plagued with excessive rain, thunderstorms, high winds and flooding. The Softball Tournament hosting Society in Toledo and the Fraternal Department exchanged many e-mails and phone calls about the weather, especially in the few days before the tournament.

We were in touch with the Toledo Park District, who assured us the day before the tournament that the softball fields are playable. Unfortunately, the night before the tournament, a tremendous thunderstorm hit the Toledo area. Early the next morning, upon my arrival at the park, I met with the organizing committee and Park District officials. The fields were saturated with standing water and unplayable. The park officials informed us that due to the conditions of the fields, they are closing the park.

It is extremely unfortunate that the tournament was cancelled due to the unplayable conditions of the fields. Several months of preparations for a successful tournament were wreaked by Mother Nature and there was nothing we could do about it. After much hard work and planning for the last few months, the organizing committee is very grateful to all the players who ignored the cancellation and tried to make the best of it. Many arrived at the PRCUA Polish Club where arrangements were made to organize baseball dart games and card games. Later free lunch was served and, in the evening, the scheduled banquet was held with a very delicious dinner, good music and karaoke.

Thank you to all who came to the Tournament and later joined us at the Club. We thank all of you for your patience and understanding. Let us hope that in the near future the weather will not spoil a scheduled tournament and all of us will be back in Toledo soon. Special thank you to Society #1584, its organizing committee, especially Tom Krasniewski, Dan Tyburski and Tom Oien, volunteers, and all involved for organizing such an important event. We were impressed with their efficiency and friendliness.

Written by Resident Vice President Anna Sokolowski - Photos by V.P. Anna Sokolowski

Photos from the Event