On Friday, I went out to the ballgame with various members of my Connections group and our sister group. Connections is a CVCA initiative that hooks up adults at CVCA with eight to twelve students in an effort to have an adult at the school to whom the students feel they can go when needed. It is a good concept, and I try to do some outings with the group over the year. We have a sister group as well, so it makes outings more festive.
This particular ballgame was an Aeros baseball game, which is a minor league team in Akron. Mer had plans to go see a student’s presentation on a missions trip that the student had gone on, so she could not go with me. Happily, Dubbs agreed to go, which I was pleased with. Dubbs is a life-of-the-party kind of person; plus, I wanted a woman along so the girls that came would feel more comfortable.
It was a perfect day for baseball – warm and sunny, but our seats were in the shade. For various reasons, including going up against the opening CVCA football game which was away, but still close to school, only three students actually made the game – two girls and a guy. But they seemed to have a good time. I bought everyone popcorn, which was really buying salt with a little popcorn added. Dubbs, being Dubbs, made a new friend of the random girl who sat next to her, to the point that the students thought that Dubbs and the girl had already been friends. The game was entertaining, with the Aeros beating the Richmond Flying Squirrels 10-8.
The real reason I scheduled this particular night to go to a game was that it was the next-to-last fireworks night at the stadium. The fireworks the Aeros have are by far the best I have ever seen. On Friday, they outdid themselves. We were sitting just past third base, which put us only about one hundred yards from where the fireworks were being launched. The fireworks were set to go off low in the sky, to the point where our seats were slightly enveloped with smoke. The show was extensive, loud, and varied, with lots of different types of fireworks and several displays that I thought were finales. I actually laughed out loud two or three times from the show. It was great.
After the game and fireworks, we joined in the throng to get back to my car. Dubbs had grabbed a ride with me, so we got to the car and then proceeded to wait in the garage for fifteen minutes without moving. At that point, we decided to go get dessert somewhere rather than sit in traffic. I called Mer so she would not worry, and Dubbs and I headed over to Crave, an uppity restaurant in Akron, where we got dessert. The service was a bit slow, but the food was good, and the garage was empty by the time we got back to the car. I’m looking forward to the fireworks next spring, and maybe we can get a few more students to show up for the fun.