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Posted: 05/30/12

Family Day this Saturday
for Romeo softball league

by MARIANNE WEISS
Observer Special Writer

      "Batters up!"
       The Romeo girls' softball League's "Family Day," celebrating 40 years of teams, will be held Saturday, June 2, at the Romeo Community Center Fields on Morton Street.
       The league is inviting all former players, coaches and parents of the past 40 years to visit and reminisce about the league.
       Forty years ago the league started out with slow pitch, and then about 15 years ago it went to fast pitch.
       In 1972, the founders of the girls' softball league were Leonard and Ethel Thuemmel. Leonard, now deceased, was a typing and business teacher at Romeo Community Schools for many years. He coached girls basketball, volleyball and softball. In 1987, his Alward's Market Fastpitch team won the Wisconsin-Michigan Regional Tournament and played in the ASA National Finals in Boulder, Colo.
       He was a registered official with the MHSAA and umpired recreational softball for the Romeo Parks & Recreation and the Rochester RARA.
       His wife, Ethel, was present at the dedication of Field No. 4 behind the Romeo Community Center when it was re-named in his honor in 2009.
       A short ceremony with a balloon release at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday will feature photos of the teams from the last four decades. Gail Palmer, the league's coordinator, is putting the event together.
       "We are celebrating this organization that has been keeping the Romeo community playing softball for so many years," she said. "Our thanks to the many parents who have volunteered to keep this program alive."
       From the past teams, one father is Bob Kimball, a project manager at Futuramic Tool and Engineering in Warren. He lives in Washington Township and still stays involved with the league as a board member.
       "It brings a lot of pride in the community to have a program going for so long," he said. "The best thing is seeing all the girls out there and that they have an opportunity to play."
       Kimball also coached the teams.
       "We get a lot of help from the sponsors and the other coaches," he said. "I have three daughters that went through it. All in all, it's been a lot of fun."
       One of his daughters is Brandi Kimball, who graduated from Romeo High School and then from Central Michigan University in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in merchandising and design. Now 24, she's a department manager at Nordstrom at Somerset Mall in Troy and looks back on her years playing softball fondly.
       "It was always fun to be involved with the program, most of my freshman year I pitched, after that I played left field," she said. "Most of all it was fun to be with your friends. We still stay in touch with most. I think it's cool that they are still providing the young girls something to do that's fun for them."
       Brandi's sister, Chelsea Kimball, also played left field while she was in the league. She remembered one game in particular when toward the end of the game there were two outs, the bases were loaded and there was a pop-up hit that went right out to her in deep left field.
       "It could have been the game winning point, but I caught it off the fence," she said.
       She now works at the Bocci Salon and Spa in Sterling Heights after earning her cosmetology license.
       "We ended up winning that game, and even though I was subbing that day, it ended up to be the all-star catch of the season."
       She still plays ball on a co-ed adult league near Romeo.
       "Now I'm a catcher, we pitch underhand. There are some on our team who played in high school. It's really fun."
       Long-time Romeo area resident Butch Krause has three daughters who were active in the past leagues and he coached for 12 years.
       "It was an excellent place for girls to learn the game and meet friends. All of my daughters have worked with the league, take care of arranging umpires and continue to be involved," said Krause, who is a self-employed building contractor living in Bruce Township. "This organization makes for great family time . . . for the kids and parents alike to enjoy competitive sports."
       His daughter, Lindsay, enjoyed playing softball.
       "I have fun memories and all my best friends played with me," she said. Now a registered dietitian at St. John Macomb Hospital, she lives in Romeo with her husband, Joseph, and her son, Samuel.
       "I pitched a perfect game once when I was a junior, but my favorite memory was playing along with my sister Chelsea and having my dad as a coach," she said. "Since I graduated I've been doing the pitching camps for the last 10 years with the girls."

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