Parents’ group scores grant

By Pam Reinig

Register Editor

A local project has hit a homerun with the Minnesota Twins baseball organization. The Minneapolis-based major league ball club recently awarded the Elkader Funds for Fields Committee a $9,780 grant for a project to reconstruct the town’s baseball fields.

With the grant, the group has exceeded its original $25,000 goal. The surplus funds will be used to cover the cost of related projects not included in the original plan such as scoreboards as well as new benches and storage cubbies (for bats and helmets) for the dugouts.

  The Twins’ organization has a long-standing community grant program that awards up to $10,000 for improvements to playing fields. The Elkader group received the amount they requested. Elkader City Administrator Jennifer Cowsert wrote the grant. She is one of many volunteers involved in the project. 

“A huge ‘thank you’ goes out to everyone who has supported this project,” said Molly Scherf, who with her husband, James, coordinates volunteer activity, “from volunteers who have donated their time, skills and equipment to businesses and individuals who have made monetary donations to Jennifer Cowsert, who has done all of the grant writing, answered questions, kept the budget, and listened to the ideas brought to her by a group of parents.”

Work was started last week on a new fence; the old one has been torn down. New dugouts are already in place. In addition, volunteers have laid cement, spread lime and done some painting to spruce up the area. The group is planning a dedication ceremony, which is set for Friday, May 27, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.