CULLMAN, Ala. – Monday night was a special one at Field of Miracles as a crowd of players and supporters gathered at the facility to celebrate the opening night of the season on the newly installed turf. The project to resurface the field began in February and was completed just in time for the season to get underway. Cullman Parks, Recreation and Sports Tourism Executive Director Nathan Anderson welcomed the crowd out onto the new field for the opening ceremonies and shared his excitement for this new addition to the Miracle League program.
“This is an exciting day. We’re so happy to have this field opened and have it open in time for the season. This is a great crowd, there a lot of faces out here on this field that have been very instrumental, some from the very beginning and some in our latest efforts fundraising,” Anderson said. “I’d like to invite someone who works many, many hours every week doing everything they can to make our therapeutic recreation and miracle league program top notch. I do believe in all the other cities I’ve looked at that have programs similar to ours, we are the best, and that’s because of the hard work of Kelly Pulliam.”
Therapeutic Recreation Director Kelly Pulliam was excited to see a lot of familiar faces Monday night and thanked as many of them as she could for helping bring this project to fruition.
“Thank you guys so much for being here, I love every single one of you. Pilot Club, thank you so much for all you do. Y’all are here no matter what when I call at the last minute. It doesn’t matter what I ask of you, y’all are here, you raise money, you volunteer and just know that it is very appreciated. All my Miracle Leage coaches are amazing and we literally could not do this without all of you. And of course, all the players. I love you guys, every single one of you. Those that were here way before me and those that are newer.”
Mayor Woody Jacobs was next up to the microphone and he shared his excitement for the newly completed project and what it will mean for all the Mircale League’s participants.
“Looking at this crowd here brings back memories from seven or eight years ago when we were building the facility and we did it for all the kids who play ball here. My daughter has played every year since we built it and we really thank the coaches and all the people that do buddies,” Jacobs said. “We have Coach (Randy) Putman and his team here tonight and lots of other folks that do that, so we appreciate that. It’s special to be a buddy and to interact with these kids and have some fun so we did it for the kids, but we really did it for the community.”
One of the final speakers of the night was Jennifer Beck. Beck has had two children playing in Miracle League the past six years and the program has meant a lot to her and her family.
“For our family, Miracle League has been a way for us to get involved in the special needs community here and it really was from day one,” Beck said. “When we moved to Cullman, we knew absolutely nobody, but this quickly became family. My kids love the ball field every single year. It’s a place where there is a perfect amount of competition and a whole lot of friendship.”
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