11 Photos
The signs at Downs Family Recreational Park in Southampton are in some need of some tender loving care. COURTESY FISHER SIGNS & SHIRTS
The signs at Downs Family Recreational Park in Southampton are in some need of some tender loving care. COURTESY FISHER SIGNS & SHIRTS
The signs at Downs Family Recreational Park in Southampton are in some need of some tender loving care. COURTESY FISHER SIGNS & SHIRTS
The signs at Downs Family Recreational Park in Southampton are in some need of some tender loving care. COURTESY FISHER SIGNS & SHIRTS
The signs at Downs Family Recreational Park in Southampton are in some need of some tender loving care. COURTESY FISHER SIGNS & SHIRTS
Mockups of the new signs that would be installed at Downs Family Recreational Park. COURTESY FISHER SIGNS & SHIRTS
The signs at Downs Family Recreational Park in Southampton are in some need of some tender loving care. COURTESY FISHER SIGNS & SHIRTS
The signs at Downs Family Recreational Park in Southampton are in some need of some tender loving care. COURTESY FISHER SIGNS & SHIRTS
The signs at Downs Family Recreational Park in Southampton are in some need of some tender loving care. COURTESY FISHER SIGNS & SHIRTS
Mockups of the new signs that would be installed at Downs Family Recreational Park. COURTESY FISHER SIGNS & SHIRTS
Mockups of the new signs that would be installed at Downs Family Recreational Park. COURTESY FISHER SIGNS & SHIRTS
Ron Fisher remembers his playing days in Riverhead Little League, particularly when it installed brand new lights so local youth could take part in night games.
“I just remember how much pride I had in my league and in my fields, and how small investments like that can go a long way in terms of the aesthetics of the field,” he said.
Which is why he wants to help out Southampton Little League.
Back on February 8, after finishing up a project at one of the local schools, Fisher, who owns Fisher Signs & Shirts on County Road 39, was asked by Ken Sisco, a social studies teacher in the Southampton School District, who is also on the board of directors of the Southampton Little League, to come down to Downs Family Recreational Park, off Flying Point Road in Southampton Village. It was there that Sisco showed Fisher some run down, faded out signs, particularly those that honored the league’s District 36 championships from 1990, 2001, 2007 and 2012, along with a few others.
In some cases, many of the names on those championship teams could not be seen, so Sisco asked Fisher for a rough estimate of how much it would cost to replace two of the signs, and then from there the estimate was for all of the signs. That estimate came in, from soup to nuts, for brand new signs plus installing them, at $3,500, which is a little costly for a local league. Even after Fisher offered a 30 percent discount, it would still cost close to $2,500.
With Southampton Little League needing help to cover the costs, Fisher thought what better use of crowdfunding, so a week after seeing the signs for the first time, on February 15, Fisher launched a GoFundMe page, gofund.me/523e4cc3, to raise the $2,650 needed to upgrade the signs.
“The same way I felt about my own Little League fields, is how I felt about these championship signs,” Fisher said. “Those people and teams from 30 years ago should be celebrated. The signs should not be so washed out and faded that you can’t even read your dad’s name on them. It’s just not as exciting.”
Sisco is the director of the majors division in Southampton Little League, so he happens to be at that particular field a lot and he agreed with Fisher, that the signs should amplify the overall aesthetic of the field, and the names of the players of the past teams should be recognizable.
“The signs got weathered pretty quickly. One of them is not even 10 years old, and it’s in pretty rough shape already,” he said. “People are up there trying to see some of the names, and it would be cool if they could easily recognize some of the them who are now parents or grandparents. Now they’re kind of eyesores, but it would be nice to keep those memories up there, and like Ron said, some of these names are people who still live in the community, or have businesses here.
“The field is also beautiful. The village does such a nice job keeping it in such great shape, so it would be great to have some nice signs up there to go with the nice field,” Sisco added.
Sisco said the goal is to hopefully have the new signs installed by Opening Day, the date of which hasn’t been set yet, but will likely be a weekend in April.
Jamie O’Neill played on one of the district’s first teams to win a district title in 1990 — the local district tournaments ultimately lead to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He couldn’t agree more with both Fisher and Sisco that it’s time to replace the signs and honor the champions of the past.
“My son is now 22 and he played Little League and it’s definitely interesting, and I remember telling him about it this past summer, when Massapequa Coast Little League got to play in the Little League World Series,” said O’Neill, a local builder who still resides in Southampton. “It brought it all back and a bunch of us on that team were just recently talking about it. Of course, there’s not so many of us left out here, with many having moved away.
“It would be nice for people to remember us,” he added. “I remember when we came back after winning that district title, it was a pretty big deal. They ran this banner across Main Street and had a big parade. It was a good group of guys, and we went pretty far the following year, too.”
