There is a secret treasure in Ely. I was unaware of it myself until a few years ago, even though I have lived here for over 25 years.
Back behind Whiteside Park, behind the little league field and softball field is the Veterans Memorial Baseball field.
This is an un believable facility that has been honed over the years to a level of beauty that, especially under the lights at night, brings a tear to the eye, by a dedicated group of staff and coaches and players that give it a tremendous amount of their effort and free time.

Over the past few weeks they have taken that dedication to a much higher level yet, (I wouldn’t have believed it possible), the field is an absolute vision of beauty for the State Legion Tournament which started today at 11:00 am.

I just stopped by there and there is an energy there that makes it hard to leave, (and I am not even that big of a baseball fan). I just wanted to hang there and have some of those burgers they were grilling and sit on the bleachers in the shade and watch some high level baseball played by some of the best young players in the state. Guys that came here to play.

If you are in town town today, tomorrow or Saturday, sure, go to the Blueberry festival and get that out of your system if you need to, but then, if you enjoy baseball, take a walk back over there and witness something special.

If you are not in town and are interested, you can read all about it here:
http://elylegionbaseball.blogspot.com