KIDS AND KUBS
President’s Report
95th Season Summary
(April 2024-March 2025)
Thanks to all the many Kids and Kubs Players and Volunteers who helped to accomplish another great season!
Opening Day. The season started out with Opening Day including the traditional ceremony with the American Flag, accompanied by the Canadian Flag in honor of our Canadian members, memorable photographs taken by Moorman Photographics and Erik Mathre, presence of our past presidents Jon Wilkinson and Clarence Faucett, City audio support, City DJ Shawn Drouin, and the Club picnic. Ethel Lehmann, our Softball Hall of Fame Member and senior player received the first pitch.
New Players—Some 15 new players were welcomed to the Club this season (including A Players stepping up)!
Family Day—Family Day was again held over the Christmas Holidays. We had so many players this year we had to go to 3 teams (“hit, sit, field”) rather than last year’s 2, and a 5 innings limit. Hot dogs were served, face painting and tattoos for old and young alike, and lots of family fans turned out.
Babe Ruth Day & Mayors Game—This year saw the 54th anniversary of the annual Mayor’s Game versus the City Hall Stars. A companion game was also held with the City “TASCO” Teen Sports Team. Mayor Ken Welch, City Council Chair Copley Gerdes, and City Council Members Lisset Hanewicz and Richie Floyd participated in the occasion including the Club’s giving to local charities. The Game commemorated the Centennial of Babe Ruth Playing Spring Baseball in St. Pete (1925-1935), and the Club was honored to have the Babe’s grandson, Tom Stevens, throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Paul Olden, official announcer for the Yankees, was on hand to announce the game. Additionally, a life-size statue of the Babe entitled the “Call Shot,” sculpted by artist Blake Emory, was unveiled at the event. During the 1930s Babe Ruth and other Yankees stars attended games and sometimes served as base coaches. Many charities and other organizations supported by the Babe turned out for the occasion. The food truck sold out. The Club also participated in ceremonies at City Hall honoring Babe Ruth Day.
Special Games—Other special Saturday games held this season included On Top of the World, Tampa General Hospital, VFW, Gulfport Boomerangs, and 3 Score. (Special thanks to Cubbie for coordinating.)
Media—The Club and our Softball Hall of Fame star Ethel Lehmann was recognized in a major article in Tampa Bay Times Weekly. The Club’s Babe Ruth Day received extensive local coverage especially focused on Babe Ruth Day.
St. Petersburg to celebrate Babe Ruth, Yankees centennial | Sports | tbnweekly.com
Ethel Lehmann, 95, is the softball player who just keeps on going | Largo Leader | tbnweekly.com
Updates were made periodically to the Club’s Facebook Page and the website.
https://www.facebook.com/kidsandkubs/
https://stpetekidsandkubs.com/
(Special thanks to Jon Reynolds for his extensive efforts to obtain media coverage for the Club, as well as checking the field when the weather was iffy!)
AED Training—AED Training was again provided to select members of each team by Debbie Budreau. A big thanks Debbie!
Santa Parade—The Club again participated in the City Santa Parade, including our new mascot “Cubbie” Kutchinski, riding the Clearwater Jolly Trolley with a record Club turnout. Approximately $900 was raised by the Club through a bat raffle and donations to pay for the Trolley. (Special thanks to Cubbie for coordinating this event.)
Club Brochure—This year’s brochure included a record 22 paid ads and generated a profit of $3,600 (compared with $2,000 for the year before). (Special thanks to Ed Asay for again taking on this labor of love, and to all who got the ads.)
Banquet—The annual banquet was again held at Banquet Masters with a turnout of about 120 including guests. Our special guests included Tim Reid, Babe Ruth historian, and Bob Ward of the Committee to Celebrate Babe Ruth. Tim created the following video for the occasion:
(Special thanks to Terry Miller, Mike Vander Syde, and their crew for organizing the banquet.)
Club Budget. This last year’s budget for yearly operation of the Club was approximately $16,000. Funds for Club operations primarily come from dues, brochure ads, Trust Fund income, CD interest, and occasional donations. Operational Funds are maintained in a checking account for immediate needs and in interest bearing CDs which are accessible when needed. As of the end of March operational funds totaled approximately $22,000. Note: Dues for next season ($125) are now due.
(Special thanks to Treasurer Dave Glauner for maintaining the Club’s accounts.)
Trust Fund—In 1981 the Club established a Trust Fund to perpetuate the Club into the future. Under the terms of the trust only the interest or dividends may be used each year, with half of that going to the Club’s operational account for expenses and half to be distributed to community charities. This usually amounts to about $5,000, or $2500 added to the Operational Account and $2500 to charities. As of the end of March the Trust Fund totaled $94,151. The Trust Fund was reviewed at the end of December. At that time the portfolio, including income from dividends and interest, increased 12.54% over the previous year. (The Trust Fund Committee is currently assessing the impact of the recent stock market plunge.) The Club also maintains a Special Reserve Account (CD) now totaling $1,552. Under the terms of this account, it may be accessed for special needs with a 2/3 vote of the Board and Membership. The Club is a 501c3 charitable organization and as such does not pay sales tax and donations are tax deductible.
(Special Thanks to Bob Kane, Chair of the Trust Committee, and Committee Member Gator Grady.)
Giving Back to the Community—The Club awarded checks of approximately $250 to each of ten local charities. Additionally, $460 donated by members and hundreds of pounds of food were provided the Free Clinic.
Donations to the Club— During this past year the Club received several donations including $1,000 from former player and Club VP Don Osborn, $1,000 from an anonymous player, and $1,000 from a Charitable Trust.
Rules Updates—Several Playing Rule updates were approved this season, including use of professional umpires and creation of a Team Selection Committee on a trial basis for the 96th Season. The Teams Selection Committee will replace the previous draft and trade process, hopefully reducing the number of trades throughout the season while maintaining a reasonable level of competitiveness between teams and relieving some of the pressure on the Player Coordinator.
Other—This past season we experienced two severe hurricanes, Helene in late September and Milton two weeks later in October. Hurricane Helene caused a 7-foot surge in parts of St. Petersburg, and Milton blew the roof off the bleachers at North Shore Field. Several of our players lost their homes, at least temporarily, and many others experienced some level of damage from wind and flooding. Individual Club members reached out to those affected providing what support they could.
Four of our players will not be returning including former Club Secretary and Board Member Ed Asay; former Club VP and Secretary Terry Miller; pitcher Kaz Gora; and Softball Hall of Famer Larry McCurdy. It has been a pleasure to play with you and the many other Club members these past few years.
I also want to thank all our Board Members, Captains and Co-Captains, Player Coordinator, Score Keepers, Stat Keeper Tom Heiderscheit, Field Keeper Chuck Bochicchio, Field Supervisors, Uniform Sales Coordinator Jerry Woolman, Picnic supporters, and so many other volunteers for your support this past year.
Will Michaels