Baseball The Subject At Historical Society Banquet

Back in the 1920s, '30s and '40s - when Avon Park was the spring training home for major and minor league baseball teams - the teams stayed at the Hotel Jacaranda. On Sat., Feb. 21, that same hotel will serve as the setting while Avon Park baseball historian Dr. Ron Sevigny brings Avon Park's unique baseball history to life. His talk takes place during the annual banquet of the Historical Society of Avon Park, beginning at 6:30.

Sevigny, a local optometrist, will describe how the St. Louis Cardinals - "the Gas House Gang" - came to Avon Park in 1927 after winning the World Series from the New York Yankees the year before - and how the stands during the first exhibition game with those same Yankees were filled with more people than lived in Avon Park.

He will also talk about Babe Ruth and how Ruth Street got its name and how the baseball bat given to "the Babe" by his Avon Park fans can now be seen at the Depot Museum.

After covering Avon Park's professional baseball history, including naming local residents who made it to the big leagues, Sevigny will review the "outstanding record" of the high school's baseball teams - and how "The City of Champions" was so-named.

Banquet organizers are hoping a number of former Avon Park High School baseball players will attend and be recognized.

The meal will feature both prime rib of beef and turkey and dressing. The program also includes a review of the society, its Depot Museum and railroad dining car for the past year, plans for the future - and a special progress report on the street-scaping of Museum Avenue. Election of several new board members will also take place; and the Board Member of the Year for 2008 will be named.

Tickets are $25 per person and are available at the Hotel Jacaranda and the Avon Park Chamber of Commerce. Deadline for purchasing tickets is Feb. 18.

For more information, call Nancy Weber, banquet chairperson, at 453-3582.