on Rec League opening day

April 3, 2000 11 PM

Saturday, opening day of Troy Parks and Recreation League baseball begins and this year and honor of the occasion, staff members from The Messenger will be out to shoot pictures of this year’s team members in order to run them in the newspaper.

Pulling off suck a feat is never easy. Asking youngster who are excited about the dawn of a new season of sports to stand still 30 minutes before they take the field for their first game of the season isn’t an easy task.

But after looking at the calendar, that seems to be the only way to effectively get the pictures for the paper without having to send numerous people to numerous places over the course of several weeks.

In order to make the event a success, however, and to ensure that the kids get to the field for opening ceremonies in time, Messenger staffers will be on hand Saturday at 8 a.m. sharp when pictures will begin. Working through several people, we will have 45 minutes to get photos of all teams, which is an enormous feat.

But to do this, we will not be able to do re-takes or to wait with teams until all members arrive if some are late. And we know that’s bound to happen.

That’s why we are asking for your help, parents. In order to ensure that your child is photographed with his or her team, we are asking you to go to some extra effort and be at the field promptly at 8 a.m. Otherwise, your child could be left out of a team photograph.

And as shameful as it would be if that were to happen, it would be more shameful still for us to fail to print a picture of an entire team because of the absence of a few.

Pulling off this feat has taken the dedication of a lot of manpower by The Messenger and the much appreciated cooperation of the employees with the Park and Rec Department who are working so diligently with us in this endeavor. And there will be no second chances to get things right.

So coaches, parents and players, we need your help. Only with your cooperation can we pull this off. We ask for your help and your patience in the process. We need you to understand that some children may be left out if they are not at the field on time, and that we are sorry for that. But taking to heart what is in the best interest of the whole, it is a decision we have to live with.

Help us make it as painless as possible by getting the kids to the park by 8 a.m. and by understanding when we have to rush from one shot to the next.

By doing this, you will be able to ensure that the picture of the child you love is in the paper with the members of his or her team.