STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The boys of summer had to wait nine days after summer had ended.

But on Saturday a bevy of Little Leaguers and others celebrated the grand opening of a colorful new ball field complete with anelectronic scoreboard at Atkinson Park.

“I’ve been watching them build it all summer,” said John Jepson, as he looked out at the bright green turf and red clay infield set against the backdrop of Bald Mountain. “They had to pack down the field and roll it out after it emerged from winter with deep ruts and puddles. Now, it’s beautiful—great for the kids.”

Ketchum Mayor Nina Jonas threw out the first pitch—a strike down the middle—as sprinkles ended just in time for a ball game for all-comers on the new ball field.

Don Atkinson, whose family had made a donation to cover the costs of the new scoreboard, recalled how his father Chuck Atkinson had put his hand on the shoulders of everyone in the community, asking, “How much money can you give us?” when he decided to turn a dusty field near Ernest Hemingway School into a ball diamond 40 years ago.

“They convinced me this scoreboard would be a great thing. I love everybody here. I love all the things that we have here,” said Don, whose father helped build the Sun Valley Lodge and later opened the first Atkinsons’ Market in 1956 in The Christiana gambling casino.

Don’s wife Judy Atkinson added that kids have always been her family’s main focus.

“Everything we did we passed onto the kids. I wish I had found a picture of son Chip, now 54, to share with you. I have a picture somewhere of him playing T-ball right here.”

She turned to the youngsters assembled around the outfield.

“Enjoy this while you can because you grow up too fast,” she told them.

Those charged with rebuilding the ball diamond held their breath, worried that it might not arrive in time from the factory in North Carolina, after Hurricane Irma shut down flights along the East Coast. Thankfully, it arrived just in time for workers to affix a LED light gone awry before they set the scoreboard in place.

The initial red dirt infield that arrived from Emmett had to be exchanged for a new mix of clay and sand since the first batch wasn’t right, added Project Manager Sherri Newland who oversaw the project with Bart Curd.

Sun Valley Mayor Peter Hendricks remembered fondly his Little League days, recounting how he joined up as soon as he turned 7 and reluctantly moved on when he turned 12—the cutoff age for Little League.

“I slept with my glove and ball and, of course, I was so proud of my bat and hat,” he said. “I grew up in Brooklyn so, of course, I loved the Brooklyn Dodgers. The players lived in the neighborhood so we were always seeing them on the streets and saying, ‘Good morning, Mr. (Pee Wee) Reese,’ ‘Good morning, Mr. Furillo. I’d have to say that my favorite players were outfielder Carl Furillo and Duke Snyder.”

As Hendricks reminisced about his Little League days, Bellevue resident David Rau recalled the good times he’d had coaching his son David and other youngsters on the Ketchum field. And Liam Curd, who now plays for Wood River High School, talked about how excited he was to see an electronic scoreboard on his old Little League field.

“It’s awesome. I wish they’d had it before I left this field,” he said, as he helped himself to a ballpark hot dog and ice cream sandwich furnished by the city. “I’m too old to play here now.”