BY KAREN BOSSICK

The City of Ketchum will host a celebration for its new Little League field, during which it will unveil its new electronic scoreboard on Saturday at Atkinson Park.

The celebration will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, and will include complimentary hot dogs, ice cream and prizes.

A group of Ketchum leaders led by supermarket entrepreneur Chuck Atkinson raised money to turn a dusty tract near Ernest Hemingway School into a state-of-the-art baseball diamond and facility for the city’s little leaguers more than four decades ago.

The recent makeover included a complete reconstruction of the field to meet little league ball field standards. As in the past, the Atkinson family made a generous donation to cover the costs of a new electronic scoreboard.

Don Atkinson, the son of Chuck Atkinson, said his father would be thrilled to see the evolution and improvements at the field he helped create from scratch.

“I know he’d be proud to see that the scoreboard is one of the finishing touches on this great resource,” Don said. “Our family is proud of it, happy to do this, and proud of Ketchum and all the good things that are happening here.” 

Ketchum Mayor Nina Jonas is inviting attendees to take part in the inaugural game on the new field on Saturday. Interested players should come dressed to play, with helmet, gloves and bats. The city will provide equipment to those without.

“This is an exciting new chapter in the rich history of the Little League Field,” said Jonas, who plans to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. “I am very happy to be able to support the parents, kids, the Atkinson family and all the users of the park in the community tradition of coming together to support ways to enhance and improve our city’s recreational resources.”