Lots of Memories

Connie Carr / New Albany English Teacher

You mentioned the Little League diamond and all at once a lot of memory cells fired in my brain. Hopefully, if Connie Carr is reading this, she will forgive my grammar mistakes. Spell check should catch most of my spelling errors. We moved to New Albany in 1973. Oldest son Jimmy was ready for T-ball in 1974 I believe. Middle son Andy followed him by 4 or 5 years, youngest son Scott followed Andy by another 4 or 5 years and daughter Debbie played softball starting a year after Scott. A sum total of about 16 or 17 years in New Albany Youth League sports. Must qualify the Joseph’s for some kind of award! HA!
I coached many of those years and was treasurer of the league for many years. My wife Judy and Donna Brown ran the little concession stand for many years. She remembers the rectangular pizzas (purchased frozen from Callie Cardules at the Dairy Creme) selling like hot cakes.

The league saved money for many years to buy a new ice machine. Coaches that stand out in my memory were Rod Putterbaugh, Mike Carr, Bill McKinney, Harold Phillips, Jerry Cherry, Jack Farley, Jim Sponagle, Herbie (“Don’t look at the ball- RUN”)Kellett, John Tinon, Robin Nye, and many others. Joe Morlan, of course, leaning on the outfield fence scouting for future Big League pitchers.
Many very treasured memories of small town New Albany. We love it here!!

By: Steve Joseph

I would like to add to some of the Coaches that helped get the New Albany Little League up and running:

Team 4 / 1969

Tom Kessee, Fred Shoemaker, Dexter Stevens, Mike Kowalski, Dave Mckinney, Chet Abshire, Bill Cowan, Hoel Harris, Gane Hatch, J B Bowe, Mr. Flowers, Jack Brooks, Mr. Seckerson, Mr. Elschlager, Johnny Bowman, Otto Lindenbolt, Pat Folie and others.

Hey Coach

In the spring of 2007 my daughter and I went to a Wittenberg university softball game with some friends. The center fielder hit a home run!  Her mother jumped up, cheering for her daughter.  I leaned over to my friend and said, \” I know that lady.  She coached me in softball when I was a kid,\”. I was certain it was her.  Crisco is what we called her, as in go Chis go- it became Crisco!  So I had to introduce myself.  Between games I went up to her, it went something like this… I have to ask and don\’t mean to creep you out, but aren\’t youChris Richards from New Albany? (FYI- aka Kathy to some). She wore a stunned expression of confirmation.  Wanting to give her reference, I told her I was Jeanne Maynard, Keith Harig\’s sister (they were classmates) and she had coached me on the Red Barron\’s softball team the summer after she graduated.  She had placed me too!  She remembered I had long, white-blonde hair.  She even said she had recently looked at pictures from that summer (-she later emailed the to me and they are posted on Facebook).  How cool is this little reunion?!   We chatted and later introduced our daughters.  In the fall of 2008, our daughters became friends and teammates on that Wittenberg  Tiger softball team.  Chris, her husband Don, my husband Jim and I enjoyed watching our girls play together for two years.  Thanks to Facebook we stay connected and Chris is fondly in my cell as Crisco.

By: Jeanne Maynard Amicon