The Circus Surrounds the Ballpark!!!
Published on October 27, 2004 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Bridgeport Bluefish News Release
The Circus is coming! The Circus is coming! Yes, it's that time of the year again. The Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus is in the âhood again! We have lions and tigers, zebras, camels, elephants, bears and God knows what else all around us in the various parking lots surrounding the Arena and the Ballpark at Harbor Yard. And that's because "Bailey's Comet" led by Bello the Clown will be opening up at the arena next door starting tomorrow evening, and running through this weekend. As always, it is a tremendous treat to welcome the Greatest Show on Earth to P.T. Barnum's grand old town. We won't have the lions and tigers running around in the outfield as in past years, but we are proud to host the circus here in our âhood. It's the 133rd edition of the circus! And, if you're interested in a real Opening Night of celebration at the circus, you can join in the 16th Annual Barnum Museum Gala this evening which begins with a 5:00 PM "dinner extraordinaire" and mingling with performers at the Barnum Museum, just under the highway from the Arena. There are still tickets available for this gala. Call the Barnum Museum at 203-331-1104. A ticket to the Gala includes the affair at the Museum, a three-ring adventure pre-show at 6:30 PM at the Arena and first-rate tickets to the circus itself at 7:30 PM.
With this edition of Mickey's Mail, we have begun employing a new list server that we are confident is superior to past list servers. If you have trouble reading this, please let us know. We're pretty sure past problems with fonts and misplaced question marks appearing in the text are now behind us. If we're wrong, let us know. Thanks to Gene Bachman at The Voice for working to improve our e-mailings.
Congratulations to our own Mary Capello who won the Grand Raffle prize at last Friday's gala at the Playhouse on the Green featuring the one-act play "Matt and Ben". Mary's prize includes Broadway tickets to see Pacific Overtures, and dinner and lodging in New York City. Enjoy, Mary!
This Friday night (October 29), join the Motown group "Souled Out" as they perform the best Motown hits of the 70's and 80's. They'll be at The Klein Memorial Auditorium with music and choreographed dance routines from The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Four Tops. Tickets are still available by calling our box office (203-345-4800, ext. 150), or by going on line to the Klein's website at www.theklein.org. Not for nothing, but those groups go back to the 60's, not just the 70's and 80's. From someone who remembers when it all started...
On Monday morning, the City of Bridgeport proudly hosted U.S. Transportation Department Secretary Norman Y. Maneta who was here as a guest of Congressman Christopher Shays to learn more our city's Intermodal Transportation system. This editor was asked to acquaint Secretary Maneta with our sports and entertainment complex here at Harbor Yard. And I can report that the Secretary is an avid baseball fan, and was genuinely interested in the history of our own Bridgeport Bluefish. We were actually able to show him our gleaming ballpark as seen from the southern end of the platform of the Bridgeport train station.
A hearty tip of our hat to Jim Wood at Hudson United Bank for continuing as always to provide us with the financing we need to sustain us here at the Bluefish. Hudson has been a godsend to us here at the ballpark, and we continue to appreciate all the bank does for us. For instance, in our very first season here in 1998, we had agreed to operate the Newark Bears team here in our ballpark, in addition to the Bluefish simply because the Bears' ownership group had been unable to get its ballpark built in time for that inaugural season. We needed additional funds to operate that team here, and Hudson United Bank stepped up and lent us the money to operate the Bears, which enabled the league to begin operations that year. The rest is history, as the league has thrived since then. Once again, thank you Hudson for your support!
From our Bluefish website (www.bridgeportbluefish.com): 2005 Flexbooks and Mini-Plans Now Available! Mini-Plans - The Bluefish have mini-plans that suit every schedule and taste! There are plans for games only on weekends, Saturdays, Sundays or weeknights... fireworks, afternoons or special events... 8-, 16- or 35-game plans... even customize your own plan â whatever works best for you! Flex Books - Flexbooks make the perfect gift. Each book contains 10 open-ended exchange coupons for Loge box seats to any 2004 regular season Bridgeport Bluefish home game. They may be used for 10 different games or all at once, offering the maximum possible flexibility. Even though our actual 2005 schedule won't be officially approved until our Atlantic League Board meeting on November 9 in Atlantic City, we can sell you these Mini-Plans and Flexbooks right now, so check 'em out at our website.
Speaking of Atlantic City in November, the Atlantic League Board of Directors' meeting will take place at the Second Annual Independent Baseball Winter Meetings, featuring a Trade Show and Job Fair, which will be held at the Tropicana Resort. A Grand Trade Show Opening and Gala is scheduled for Monday, November 8, where vendors and buyers will discuss business opportunities and network. The meetings will include a business seminar on Tuesday, November 9th to focus on ticket sales and sponsorship ideas. There will also be a cocktail reception for all vendors and attending team personnel that evening. The front office staffs of the teams will lead breakout sessions for topics such as media relations, stadium operations, and promotions on the final day of the meetings on Wednesday, November 10th. All convention events will conclude at noon on Wednesday. The Trade Show and Job Fair take place throughout all three days of the convention. Job seekers should provide resumes and be prepared to schedule interviews with the teams throughout the event. The first independent leagues' winter meetings also took place this past January, also at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. At that time, a decision was made to have the second annual winter meetings this fall (go figure) so that our independent teams would get the first crack at interns seeking jobs next summer. That's because Major League Baseball's winter meetings are always held in December.
By the way, the other independent league here in the northeast, appropriately called the Northeast League, has disbanded, and a new organization has been formed called the Canadian-American Professional Baseball Association, and it will play in a league called the Can-Am League. Check out the new website at www.canamleague.com. Our independent neighbors up the road, the New Haven County Cutters, are a member of the new Can-Am League.
Congratulations to our friends Cindy Kissin, President of the Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation, and Merle Berke-Schlessel, President of the United way of Eastern Fairfield County, who received Pat Hart Service Awards at a special Music and Arts Center for Humanity breakfast this morning at the Holiday Inn. Lon Schwear, President of Tracy-Locke, an advertising firm, also received an award. Our own Bluefish Foundation awarded enrichment scholarships this year to two Bridgeport middle school students to receive musical lessons from the Music and Arts center.
Atlantic League Stories from October 27, 2004
- The Circus Surrounds the Ballpark!!! - Bridgeport Bluefish
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
