This is the program printed for the first ever Little League in the area (white-only, of course). The opening ceremonies were held on June 2, 1956. Unfortunately only the "major" league (older kids) is listed on the program but the coaches and sponsors of the four "minor" league teams are listed at the end. The ceremony was definitely a big deal, with the Air Force Band, some other marching bands and majorettes, Bob Wolff (a well-known sportscaster) and "members of the Washington Nationals" (actually Senators). It turns out that a very young Harmon Killebrew came, who later turned out to be one of the top hitters in all of baseball. He autographed my hat. You can see from the program, this was a pretty expensive production. In the years since 1947, prosperous suburbs had sprung up all over the area. The transformation wasn't complete by 1956 but it was well on its way. Our little enclave of GI-Bill cinderblock cubes had become a kind of oddity, if not an embarrassment among the sprawling new prosperous subdivisions. Today it is almost completely erased. As are the farms, forests, creeks, and wildlife. (Speaking of hats, it might be hard to believe but baseball hats — even the ones for kids — were made to size in those days; personally I think they looked a lot better that way.)

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Created by C-Kermit Photogallery 3.15 January 31, 2023