Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lady Cardinals, Volunteers Help Refurbish Field
FARMINGTON SOFTBALL TEAM WORKS WITH OZARKS CARES TO REFURBISH FIELD
FARMINGTON — The Lady Cardinal softball squad turned out as a team on the morning of April 28 to partner with Ozarks Cares for a community project close to heart.
Farmington softball coach Randy Osnes spearheaded the high school team’s participation in a joint effort with Ozarks Cares.
“It turned out really, really well,” said Osnes. “The high school softball team came out in coordination with Ozarks Electric to clean up the little softball field below the (Farmington) Indoor Facility. We reset the bases and redid the infield for them and cleaned up the outfield.”
Osnes operated a tractor doing much of the dirt work during the project while assistant coach Steve Morgan supervised measuring the distances between bases.
“The community wanted to upgrade the field and make it a better playing condition for the girls,” Morgan said. “Most of the high school girls grew up playing on this field, so it means something to them. There were a lot of smiles when I asked, ‘who all played on this field?’”
Morgan said all fields require a certain amount of upkeep, of that caring touch, explaining Coach Osnes handled the high school team’s involvement as a means of reinvesting themselves in the future of Lady Cardinal softball by revamping a youth softball field.
“We want to give them a good playing surface,” Morgan said.
While the high school softball team worked inside the fence refurbishing the infield, community volunteers worked outside the fence painting the dugouts and mowing grass among various activities.
Mitch Styles serves as Community Outreach & Education Coordinator for Ozarks Electric, a local utility co-op that has formed Ozarks Cares. Styles coordinated the community volunteers’ involvement.
“We try to do different projects like this in the communities we serve,” Styles said. “It’s our way of giving back to our communities in different ways.”
A promotional video on the Ozarks Electric website states, “Being involved means be there. For our communities, for our members, for each other. At Ozarks Electric Cooperative, we care about our communities and the members we serve. We also take great pride in the fact that we are your friends
and neighbors. And through Ozarks Cares, we’re helping build and maintain strong communities, so that we help improve the lives of our members.”
One community volunteer, David Nay, has an 11-year-old daughter, Lauren, playing for Eclipse in the 12-and-under league.
“A lot of parents were seeing this field needed some general maintenance, it needed a general refreshing,” Nay said. “We’re going to paint the dugouts and reset the bleachers and remove leaves. It’s just a community effort to make it usable for little kids to use it for practice or games if need be.”
A.C. Spears, 4, was one of the youngest volunteers. His big sister, Presleigh, 6, plays on the field, and A.C. was eager to help his dad, Ryan Spears.
“We try to come up with different things to do,” Styles said. “Ozarks Cares is employee-based, they come up with the ideas. We’ve done this program for a few years now, it’s one of the many facets of the program. We also do monetary drives.”
According to Styles, last year Ozarks Cares gave away $52,000. Employees raised $26,000 and the company matched that.
“This is one (project) where we get out and get our hands dirty and make a difference,” Styles said. “It’s fun to come out and see it before and after.”
Among the Ozarks Electric’s employees volunteering were: Jenn Coria, Kris Williams, Katrina Burnett, Renee Mason, DeAnn Arnhart, Lisa Fourkiller, Lisa
“We really made a difference for
that field and all the younger kids that play ball here in Farmington.”
Randy Osnes Farmington softball coach
Hendricks, David Nay and Ryan Spears.
Osnes was pleased with the end result, saying, “We really made a difference for that field and all the younger kids that play ball here in Farmington.”