Aaaaaand, ACTION!
"The Final Season," a film about Norway (IA) High School's quest for their 20th and final state baseball championship in 1991 begins filming in Benton County this week. Producers are looking for automobiles, farm machinery, and clothing that can pass for 15 years old. (Should I loan them one of my ties, gang?;>) According to the county seat's newspaper, the Cedar Valley Times, vintage (my word) baseball gear and Norway paraphernalia are being sought, along with early '90s style garb advertising Madison Avenue companies that might be willing to place their products on the big screen (a sad trend that's becoming more and more distracting at the movie house.)As the hyper-linked article explained, film crews are working feverishly to prepare the Norway baseball field for its Hollywood close-up, but my spies also tell me that the sound of the trains on the south edge of town have forced producers to move part of the production. A new workshop (located near the ball diamond, according to the script) has been renovated in nearby Shellsburg, and a handful of good-natured "Welcome to Norway" signs reportedly sprouted in that village last week.
So that means there should be plenty of cameras and skilled technicians trucking back and forth when my hometown of Newhall-- located an almost equal distance between the two-- celebrates its 125th birthday this coming weekend, June 8, 9, and 10. It's not to late to participate.
posted by CM @ 9:47 PM
13 Comments:
Chris, do you still have that old wooden Newhall Post Office sign that was in the trunk of your car for a decade? Whatever happened to all that undelivered mail from the mid-80s?
Wasn't the Newhall Centennial in 1982, shouldn't the 125th be next summer?
Am I right that Atkins would be 125 also? I remember their centennial was in the same summer. How about an Newhall/Atkins old-timers game for all the grown little leaguers?
We would still get out butts kicked by Atkins. Not sure why you guys claim Newhall as your hometown even though you played for Atkins and had an Atkins phone number (446-7422 if memory serves right).
Newhall's baseball was never great (while I was there), but at least we had the most fun - riding around in the back of Todd Kunstorf's hearse and drinking free soda from his dad's Phillips 66 gas station.
Of course, I was traded to Blairstown for my final year of Pony league where I hit the only over-the-fence HR of my baseball career. It was at a tournament in Atkins, and the pitcher was a crafty (another way of saying he had no heat) righthander named Aaron Moeller.
Good times.
Chris claims Newhall, I guess. I claim Atkins. Everything from Chris's bedroom west was Newhall territory. My bedroom was in the southeast corner of the house and just over the border into hostile Atkins country.
I was a centerfielder in pony league, although more of a leadoff Ryan Freel-sparkplug type than a gazelle-like Griffey slugger. It's true I had a couple spot starts on the mound that season. (A season which found us in the championship game, I might add.) I got hit hard a couple times, but at least I threw strikes (unlike most of our rotation). I was out there mainly to eat up some innings.
I do remember playing in some close games while on the hill (such as the Dave L Homer in the Gloamin' game in late June), but I did beat a Dave L-less Newhall team that year 1-0 in my finest ever pitching performance.
Back then I didn't have my 'slurve' pitch that I've since learned from Bronson Arroyo. Things might have been different.
Aaron, you're right about the 125th being next year. What's the deal? And why did we all find out about this two days in advance?
Dave L- I claim Newhall as my hometown because I spent much more time there-- at my grandparents, the church, friends, the wonderful grocery store, and because that was actually our rural address.
Atkins lost me when they tore down that gorgeous old grandstand at the ballpark and replaced it with chain link and risers.
And what ever happened to the Deusenberg?
And why did the Dodgers have to leave Brooklyn?
I'm ready for that old-timers game.
Keystone is having a celebration this summer. I wonder if it is 125 years. Seems weird that a town further west would be older but who knows, we did have the chain link and risers at our ball diamond sooner too. The fact that the town is older might explain why we have the only nursing home in the area.
Aaron, I'm not even going to tell the story of how you tripped over our centerfield snow fence when I hit the first of my two consecutive games hitting a home run.
Speaking of chain link fences. Since Chris didn't add this to his blog after I told him he should. I read in the Star Press two weeks ago that Benton had to remove the outfield fence at the Norway ballpark so they could film the movie. They didn't know what to do with it and the idea was brought up to auction it off. So, last I heard they were going to look into auctioning off the fence. Seems kinda hokey to try and profit off of a movie that they tried to prevent from being made.
Is it fence or fences? I'm such a maroon!
Tripped? How do you trip over a shoulder-high snow fence? You don't. I took out that fence, flying at top speed, because I only knew how to play baseball one way: balls to the wall, every time.
I tried to haul back that homerun, but ran out of real estate, my friend.
Keep in mind this is back before they had padding on the fences. As with Eric Davis, this probably shortened my career.
Just like Bump Bailey....
"A great catch, that almost was."
A great reference and analogy, Dave! Reminds me of my other nickname back then: Wonderboy.
Dave, I never felt too bad you hit that homerun off me. I'm sure counting the pickup games we played in Newhall growing up, you saw more of my pitches than anyone else except Chris. That and the umpire was squeezing me off the outside half of the plate.
Squeezed off the outside half and afraid to go too far inside. Earlier in the game I got plunked by one Jeremy Wenger (but I got back at him years later by scooping up and marrying his former girlfriend). The beaning probably resulted in both benches getting warned because it was obviously intentional. Jeremy was mad at the world for the story going around that he only had one nut (still don't know if that is true or false).
As for the pick-up games, I'm not sure if a baseball from 60ft 6in would have the same movement as a tennis ball from the other side of the (metal) tennis net which I was used to seeing from you.
All it takes to be a long reliever: a rubber arm and a single testicle.
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