Alive with Traditions!
Nothing has ever given me more of a small-town vibe than Summer of 2018 in New Albany, Ohio.
I was inspired to write this #newalbanystories entry after reading the story, by Steve Joseph, about his memories of New Albany Little League in the 70’s.
Our family and some of our closest baseball friends were incredibly honored this summer to be a part of New Albany history when our 13 year old son’s little league baseball team took the state champ title and moved on to take 3rd place at regionals. Out of 3,587 little league teams from around the world, our New Albany Ohio Little League Team finished in the top 20!! After the state championship, we got to have a real genuine, small-town heroes welcome with fans lining the streets, firetrucks/police escort for our team, news anchors, and a greeting from our Mayor. It was EPIC! I have two more boys hoping to get their chances to defend that Little League State Title. THIS IS TRADITION. Our 2018 Little League All-Stars inspired a whole following of young boys and. Coaches (dads) to keep up the tradition of New Albany Ohio Little League and I can’t wait to see where that takes our community over the many years to come.
My husband and I both grew up in small town New Albany. We are very proud to be running our small family business in such a bustling, yet still very small community…Traditions Landscape Group…yep, that was a marketing plug! 😉 We are raising our four children in this community and cherish everything old and new! John played New Albany sports for many years and is now coaching youth sports. Our oldest started at age three with Timbits, eventually moving on to tee-ball, baseball, flag football, soccer, basketball…our fourth and final child just made her way through a tee-ball season of her own last year (Did you know that in New Albany Baseball, your fourth kids plays for free?). We think of Bevelhymer Park as our own backyard and feel very blessed to have such awesome parks and recreation facilities.
A lot has changed over the years…but New Albany, Ohio is still very alive with traditions! Early mornings at the ball fields, long lines at the concession stands, parents there to support their young athletes, the ringing of our National Anthem, and baseball under the lights! EAGLES PIZZA…Founders Day celebrations…lots of 5K races, including the annual Walking Classic and Thanks4Giving 4Miler…lighting of the Christmas Tree at Market Street…An incredible showing of support for our school athletics…countless recitals and shows at the McCoy Performing Arts Center…OUR AMAZING SCHOOL SYSTEM AND TEACHERS. On a personal note, I cannot tell you how amazing it feels to send my 8th grader to school each day, knowing that he gets to sit in a classroom with some of MY 8th grade teachers…LOVE! {Suzie Harris Cooper, Jim Morgan, John Galbreath}
Everywhere I go, I see old faces and new faces…and it has never felt more like HOME to us! Just outside of New Albany city limits…you are no more than a couple miles away from scenic country landscape and farming fields…seriously, is there a more perfect place? The beautiful trails that weave throughout our community are just another grand way to keep us all connected. Restaurants, green-space, dog parks, shops….all of which are among our many original and/or renovated buildings from “the old days” of New Albany. Our community carries a lot of history…it is evolving, binging in new traditions, and everything going on today will ultimately be a part of history…let celebrate THAT!! Here’s to New Albany {Old and New}…afterall, we are #8 on the list of America’s best 50 cities to live in!
Christi Richardson {and John, Josh, Jacob, Nolan, & Gracie}
