Editor, The Herald:

While the children of Cumberland County were enjoying their spring break, County employees and local business owners went to work! Since the budget deficits and the ever-changing economy, the baseball and softball fields at Madison Ballpark have gone without the much needed work that they have needed for the children in the county to become more competitive and feel confident about hosting home games. This past Monday afternoon, the tables began to turn a bit for these kids!

Harold W. Collins of Collins Clearing and Grading in Cumberland and his crew began this four-day project. Mr. Collins donated materials, machinery, manpower, and his time to completely renovating the infields on all three of Madison's ball fields. His show of dedication to community and to helping our youth is immeasurable. The children and parents of Cumberland County are very gracious, and want to issue a public thank you to Mr. Collins and his trucking and field crews!

The thank-yous don't stop there! Brad Jones and the folks at Buckingham Slate in Buckingham donated 35 tons of slate dust to help with filling potholes, lining walkways, and filling batting cages. Thank you to the Cumberland Volunteer Fire Department for being available to help water down the fields so that Mr. Collins could get them graded off correctly. A huge thank you to Stuart Harris and his crew with the Cumberland County Maintenance department for coordinating with Mr. Collins and helping with the construction of the fields, and with the maintenance and restoration of the concession stand-which is now up to code and fully operational. Thank you to Mr. Chip Jones and Amy Griffin of Cumberland County Public School system for allowing the use of machinery belonging to the school during this project. Thank you to Mr. Travis Gilliam with the Cumberland Sheriff's Department for his advice and guidance on this project, and always for his dedication to the youth and youth programs in Cumberland County. Thank you to Jesse Barker, Baseball Commissioner, for aggressively addressing issues concerning this project as well as other projects to come, and ensuring that the children in Cumberland County have a good time while learning the game and being active.

Last but certainly not least, another huge thank you to the Cumberland Board of Supervisors and the former County Administrators, Ms. Judy Ownby, and Ms. Jill Matthews, and current County Administrator, Ms. Vivian Giles for all of their support in making improvements not only to the fields at Madison, but their dedication to improving the youth programs that utilize these fields.

With all of this being said, I hope that the residents of Cumberland will come out and support the youth athletics at Madison Ballpark, and also support and thank our neighborhood business owners, board members, administrators, and residents that have come out to help us to help our children!

Tina Tate

Recreation Coordinator for

Cumberland County

Parks and Recreation