Summer picnic, Town and Country Band concert Saturday in Rippey

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Donations will be raised Saturday, June 24 toward restoring the grandstands at the Rippey ball diamonds.

Summer is coming to Rippey Saturday, June 24, when a summer picnic will be served in the Rippey Community Building, hosted by the family of the late Velda DeMoss.

Velda’s children, grandchildren and even some greats will provide sandwiches, bars, chips and beverages for a free will donation. The meal begins at 6 p.m. and will be served until the Town and Country Band of Churdan begins playing an outdoor concert at 7 p.m.

Everyone is encouraged to bring a lawnchair for the event. In case of rain, the concert will be performed in the Rippey Community Room.

All proceeds from the evening will go toward refurbishing the grandstand at the Rippey Baseball Park. Local contractor John McConnell estimates the repairs and painting will cost about $3,000.

As he evaluated the structure, believed to have been built in 1940, McConnell said it was in surprisingly sturdy shape. A tin roof on the building has kept deterioration from water decay to a minimum. As part of his assessment, McConnell got on the roof and jumped up and down.

He said the grandstand barely moved under him.

So far, $1,000 has been donated by Lester Zanotti, a Rippey High School alum and former baseball player for the Rippey Bulldogs, University of Iowa and the Rippey Demons. Zanotti, who now lives in Omaha, said he has fond memories of playing ball in the newly named Walt Anderson Field.

Zanotti’s older brother, Artage Zanotti, remembers helping to build the field back in 1938.

Greene County Schools rents the park from the City of Rippey and has recently re-activated the score board. It is being used for the Greene County Middle School games, showing the inning, balls, and strikes as well as the score.

The ball park restroom facilities are also being upgraded through the efforts of the Friends of Rippey and with the assistance of the Greene County Community Foundation. Funds were awarded to the Friends of Rippey in March 2017 for new sinks and toilets. They will replace plumbing that was originally installed in 1959.

Once the boards have been added to strengthen the structure, the Greene County Football Team has been asked to re-paint the grandstand in the same dark green color. The paint will be purchased by the Friends of Rippey.

It is an optimistic plan. The grandstand and the bathroom upgrades will be completed by July 15, which is the evening of the Rippey/East Greene alums Odd Versus Even Baseball game. Ron Ridnour of the EG class of ’63 will coach the Odd Balls, and David Hick, 1984 alum of EG, will coach the Even Hands.

More information will be available at a later date regarding the game.

Friends of Rippey leader Mary Weaver has established an ambitious goal of raising $1,000 during the Saturday evening meal and the Town and Country Band concert. The Friends of Rippey will be seeking additional donations from Rippey and East Greene Alums and other friends in order to reach the necessary $3,000 needed for the remodeling.

Anyone wanting to submit a donation may send it to The Friends of Rippey, P. O. Box 52, Rippey, IA 50235.

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