Residents, businesses raise money to help send team, parents to Little League World Series

It’s the stuff that dreams are made of.

With the Gresham National Little League all-star team gearing up for its first game in the Little League World Series on Friday, Aug. 17, baseball fever has swept East Multnomah County.

Everyone from shop clerks to local politicians will be rooting for the home team when the team’s first game of the series airs on ESPN at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

As the winner of the Northwest Regional Championship, Gresham National is one of eight teams from different parts of the country competing against eight international teams at the 10-day Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

“I felt like I was in a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial,” said Sara Christman, general manager of the Wood Village eatery, where 200 patrons cheered and jumped for joy on Saturday, Aug. 11, while watching the Gresham team clinch the regional title to win a spot in the World Series.

Bryan Scott of Gresham was one of those patrons.

His anticipation for that game was so great, he woke up with a stomach ache and got his family to Buffalo Wild Wings two hours early to be sure to get a good seat for viewing the game.

To pass the time, his wife gave 16 boys blue Mohawks in honor of the team’s blue-and-white colors.

“It’s huge,” Scott said of the local Little League team’s accomplishment. “They’re our kids. They’re Gresham’s kids.

“Eleven little boys brought this whole city together.”

Besides, it’s just good, clean fun — something uplifting in a sea of negative news and partisan politics.

“It’s like a good dream that you don’t wake up from,” Scott said. “And every day a new chapter to the fairy tale is written.”

Christman agreed that the positive nature of the game is a factor in the community embracing the event and its players.

“I think part of it is because of the rarity of it,” she said. “It’s only the fourth time Oregon has made it to the World Series. And everybody seems to know someone on the team.”

Which is why so many locals — young and old, male and female — will watch the big game Friday, Aug. 17.

Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis will watch the game in person. He boarded a plane to Pennsylvania on Thursday, Aug. 16, carrying with him a special bit of sports memorabilia — the championship pennant from when Gresham’s Little League softball team won the World Series in 1981.

He plans to present it to them before the first big game Friday.

Local support

Before the series began, East Multnomah County residents spent the week teaming up to raise money for players and player’s families. Although Little League covers the cost of transportation and housing for players, it doesn’t pay for family members to attend or other incidental costs.

Many families can’t afford the estimated $4,000 it costs takes to send one family member to the series.

So two downtown Gresham restaurants hosted fundraisers and donated 100 percent of proceeds to the cause.

Boccellis Ristorante’s on Monday, Aug. 13, offered up a spaghetti feed.

Local Cow served up a ballpark special of burgers and hotdogs on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

Both fundraisers played out like Norman Rockwell paintings, scenes of small town America at its finest.

As the team of 11- and 12-year-old players flew across the country for the series, their family, friends, coaches from other Little League teams, local business owners and the community filled both restaurants in downtown Gresham.

Overflow crowds spilled out onto closed sections of Northwest Fourth and Third streets in downtown Gresham where tables and fold-up chairs were set up.

Some didn’t even want to eat. They stopped by just long enough to hand over a check and head home.

At the Local Cow fundraiser, cheers rang out under sunny skies as the Gresham Little League Board President Donnie Thompson read off donations midway through the event.

“Thank you Beth for $500.”

Applause.

“The ice cream truck behind me: $100! Kevin Brown: $50.”

On and on the list went.

Together, the events raked in approximately $30,000.

Bemis, who owns Boccelli’s, wasn’t a bit surprised by the response to both fundraisers.

“I think people get how big of a deal this is,” he said. “And when this community rallies around a cause, we are simply unstoppable.”

Big deal may be a bit of an understatement, Scott said. “I think it’s captured the whole state,” he said.

Gov. John Kitzhaber on Wednesday, Aug. 15, issued an exclusive statement to The Gresham Outlook, congratulating the team for its regional championship victory.

“Oregonians couldn’t be prouder of your accomplishments, and I wish the athletes and their families all the best as they represent our state at the Little League World Series this week,” Kitzhaber wrote.

Families grateful

Those families that Kitzhaber referred to are grateful for the community’s support, without which many parents would have been unable to attend the series.

Diane Pederson flew out on Wednesday, Aug. 15, to be with her son Tyler who is on the team.

“The support has been wonderful,” she said while at the Local Cow event Tuesday night. “This means everything.”

Steve Meckel, grandfather of No. 13 Ethan Meckel, said it’s important for parents to be able to join their children for such an important moment.

“It’s a big deal in your short life, perhaps the biggest in baseball unless you go on to the majors,” Meckel said.

His grandson flew out to Pennsylvania on Sunday, Aug. 12. But before he left, the boy looked at his mom, Sarah Meckel, and said, “Mom, are you coming?”

“I’m trying buddy,” she replied.

Thanks to the fundraisers, she also boarded a plane bound for Pennsylvania on Wednesday. “This is the pinnacle of his childhood,” she said Tuesday night at the Local Cow event. “I can’t imagine not being there.”

Looking at the crowd with awe, she added, “There are people here I don’t even know,” she said. “This right here (is community).”

Ethan’s grandfather agreed. The public response has been absolutely phenomenal, especially on such short notice, he said.

But that’s what Gresham, with its small-town roots, does best.

“(Community is) people supporting each other when the need is there, and I think Gresham does a great job of that,” said Gresham resident Melissa Van Dyken, who attended the Local Cow fundraiser.

Andy and Gina Edgren are a great example of that.

On Tuesday, Gina got a call from her husband. “He said, ‘Let’s not make dinner,’ ” Gina recalled during the Tuesday fundraiser. “ ‘Let’s go support Little League.’ ”

They don’t see it as merely supporting baseball, but also as supporting the family togetherness and teamwork it fosters.

Jamie Kettleson, 19, of Gresham agreed.

She works at iCandy in downtown Gresham, which saw a flurry of caramel corn sales earlier this week when the store donated to the team $1 for every box sold.

Kettleson grew up playing soccer and running track. She even played on the Boring Little League team as a second-grader. Eventually, her family traded Sunday church services for soccer matches and joked that they did their worshiping on the field.

“You have to sacrifice a lot to play and it becomes a family thing,” she said. “The community can appreciate that and get behind the team. Just a lot goes into it, and it’s really nice to see it pay off in such a big way — going to the World Series.”

Sara Christman, the manager of Buffalo Wild Wings, said she feels like she’s gotten to know the players and their families through watching the televised Little League games with supporters.

“A lot of hard work went into it and to see it be rewarded, it’s really exciting,” she said. “It’s the kids, it’s for the kids. It’s going to be a great memory for them. Not many get to say they went to the Little League World Series.”

It’s not only a great memory for the players but for other children in the community who look up to the team, said Bryan Scott.

“So many of these boys are setting such an example for the younger boys,” said Scott, whose 10-year-old son Brayton is well, let’s just say emotionally invested in the series.

“He’s hoping one day he’ll get to live that dream, too,” Scott said.

But the community’s support goes beyond baseball, Bemis said.

Some of those who attended the fundraisers have no real connection to Little League, but wanted to support the team and the families, he said.

“Anyone who’s ever driven the kids to practice and sat through a game in the rain can celebrate,” Bemis said.

Because Gresham National’s victory is a win for every kid who’s slugged it out at practice.

It’s validation for those long hours coaches spend on the field, at the track, in the pool.

Proof that with hard work and heart, dreams do come true.

To help

Call the team at 503-666-6455.

Watch the game at eateries and bars across East County. Here is a sampling of them:

• Buffalo Wild Wings, 22849 N.E. Glisan St., Wood Village

• Geno’s, 3035 N.E. Kane Drive, Gresham

• Red Robin, 789 N.W. Division St.

• The Hangout, 576 N.E. Burnside Road

• 4th Street Brewing, 77 N.E. Fourth St.

• Local Cow, 336 N. Main Ave.