The first president of the St. Albert Minor Baseball Association is thankful he volunteered for the position.
In November of 1975, Bob Burns attended a meeting in Grandin mall to help out the St. Albert baseball program. He left the small gathering as president of what was then called the St. Albert Minor Baseball League.
"I was asked to volunteer and it was one of the best things that ever happened in my life. When you get involved in minor baseball in St. Albert you make friends for life," said Burns, who took over the president's role from Gerry Samagalski. "What was most gratifying during my time was the number of volunteers, ladies and men, and players and executives and umpires that we had in the St. Albert Minor Baseball Association."
The next year in April, Rick Schuchard suggested the St. Albert league be incorporated as the St. Albert Minor Baseball Association. The name met with approval and SAMBA was formed.
Burns, who coached baseball in New Carlisle, Ohio, before moving to St. Albert, presented the constitution used by the New Carlisle Baseball Association and with a few tweaks SAMBA adopted it in 1977.
"That really gave minor baseball in St. Albert the push it needed to become the great program it is today," said Burns, 76.
Birthday bash
SAMBA celebrates its 40th anniversary grand slam event Saturday, in conjunction with the Tigers Baseball Association's 29th annual tournament at Legion Memorial Park. Burns will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at 8 p.m., prior to the start of the Tigers' game against the Calgary Redbirds.
Paul Riopel, another baseball pioneer, will be the master of ceremonies (MC) for the pre-game ceremony, highlighted by the releasing of balloons.
From noon to 5 p.m. at the celebrity grounds, activities include a dunk tank, bouncy sports castle, petting zoo and hot dog, cotton candy, popcorn and cupcake vendors.
A selection of memorabilia will be on display at the clubhouse.
A beer gardens will also be open all weekend.
Burns is a frequent visitor to the legion facility and is in awe of how far baseball has come in St. Albert.
"To me it's unimaginable how it's grown and it's great to see it's been kept in good hands," Burns said. "They have a lot more kids involved now and it's a little more expensive but it's still keeping the kids off the street. They're getting good instruction and they've got good volunteers. The work they do, to me, is fantastic."
Burns said SAMBA's success starts with leadership.
"It's from the president and the executive all the way down to the volunteers, and without that leadership we don't have anything. I don't know if it's because we're St. Albert and we're proud of it, but we have people that step in and do the job," he said. "It's a lot more difficult now than it was when we were first starting the organization."
SAMBA parade
One of the first initiatives under Burns' presidency was the introduction of the SAMBA parade in April of 1977. He copied the idea from his time in New Carlisle.
"The executive was apprehensive as heck because it was something they had never experienced and they all knew it was going to be a lot of work to organize and put it together. We had to get floats, antique cars, horses and invite dignitaries," Burns said. "To do all that organization, it took a bunch of people and we had a really good group of volunteers."
The parade signaled the opening day of the baseball season. It was led by the St. Albert Legion Colour Party and the Royal Canadian Air Force Reserve Band was another parade fixture. Players and coaches marched in their uniforms. Team sponsors and organizations like the Lions, Kiwanis and Knights of Columbus clubs helped support the parades. The Ladies Auxiliary dispensed pop, hot chocolate and hot dogs to the players after every parade.
"It started at the Percy Page Centre, went across the old bridge past the Bruin Inn, past the old sports shop, up the street past the Ducky Dome and ended up at the Paul Kane school grounds," Burns said. "It was fun but when it was over you felt a lot of relief too and nobody was happier than Stan Mills the bylaw officer. One of his biggest concerns was who was going to clean up after the horses on Perron Street after they go through."
Field of dreams
The official opening of Legion park on Aug. 2, 1980, was another SAMBA milestone. Lorne Ross, Bert LaBuick and Ben Tooth were instrumental in securing the old rodeo grounds site through negotiations with Royal Canadian Legion officials and the city. The legion provided $15,000 in start-up costs and matching grants were obtained from the province and the city.
LaBuick and Tooth also helped survey the site and drew up blueprints for the first two diamonds. The bleachers were installed with the help of Norm Heemeryck and players from SAMBA and the Tigers Baseball Association.
"The ceremony was a big event. It was that same day the [midget] provincial playdowns started and St. Albert was involved," said Burns, the event's MC. "We had a fair-sized crowd and the ceremony went off without a hitch. The volunteers we had on the executive were quite pleased and deserved all the credit and the accolades we could give them at that time."
Ross was also the originator of the first rep team called the Cardinals in the late 1970s and the name has been synonymous with St. Albert baseball ever since.
"It's part of our tradition and the history of St. Albert baseball is rich in tradition," Burns said.
