Baseball, veterans, broadcasting and history converged at the Fan Club’s June 20th Diamond Talk. June means the baseball season is in full swing (pun intended), so we had a lot to cover. Following our tradition of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to kick off our gathering, we conducted a little Fan Club business.
Under New Business, I informed those present about the Union County Veterans 4th of July parade. I’m so glad that Mindy and I attended. When time allows, I want to share with you about our day in Lewisburg last Saturday (6/25).
I promised that I would post the site with the book that tells the fascinating story of this year’s parade grand marshal. “One Voice, Two Lives” relates the trials and ultimate freedom of David S. Wisnia, a World War II prisoner who becomes a liberator.
I also promised to share a link to a baseball-related article in The Dillsburg Banner. Member Mary Chopak brought the June 15th edition (Thanks, Mary!) with an article about Dillsburg’s own former Major Leaguer, Ron Beal. I spoke with a kind representative from the Banner this morning. As soon as they post the article to their site, I’ll share the link here.
I was pleased to see so many Fan Club members attending last Tuesday. A special thanks to Ken Rimondi for donating memorabilia to the Fan Club. (Stay tuned. You’ll have a chance to win some of those goodies at our upcoming Diamond Talks.)
Once we concluded New Business, we combined all four elements in the title of this post. I was honored to introduce our guest speaker, broadcasting legend and current Harrisburg Senators greeter, Dan Steele.
Dan covered even more than I’d hoped, from his military service to his storied career in radio, from his family to his lifelong love of baseball. We even enjoyed some question-and-answer laughs.
Dan’s wife, Linda, attended along with two more of our former radio co-workers who became our friends for life. Terry Hartzell, his wife Linda, and Chris Andree dined with Dan and Linda and Mindy and me post-meeting as we traded some of our more humorous mutual radio memories.
Over some 35 years, we became a tight-knit group. Common goals, mutual respect and loads of fun will do that. Other interests and career twists and turns may distract us for a while, but we always take time to occasionally get together to catch up.
That will be easier with Dan now that he’s become a fixture at FNB Field. Thanks, Dan, for hiring me at Q106 when I was 22, for inviting me into your life from that time forward, and for agreeing to speak to our group last week. Dan also became the newest member of the Fan Club after we adjourned!
Brian Williams, President
