The Press-Dispatch
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information and helped me with the Gil Hodges Field." "It was kind of like, with my job, we were looking for different ways that we could promote our county but also, for the Connect program, it should include the whole re- gion," Lindauer added. "So that's kind of where we got the idea." Lindauer then contacted officials with the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory to see if they were interest- ed in being included on the Heartland Historic Baseball Trail. "Since they're so big, we knew having them a part of it would be very beneficial," Lindauer said. "I think when Jessica came to us, she had already contacted the other mem- bers of the trail," said Anne Jewell, executive director of the Louisville Slugger Mu- seum & Factory. "She had all of that to present to us when she was making her case, and we loved the idea that they were willing to come across that river, on into Kentucky, and wanted to include us, too. We were honored to be asked." "Some of the questions we might have asked or con- cerns we might have had were based just more on the fact that we're a brand that's been around for 130 years, and we have to be careful and protect our brand," Jew- ell added. "But they satisfied all of that, and that's not easy to do, honestly. We're not al- ways easy to work with, and there are good reasons for that. But we had no qualms about what was being put to- gether here. These are our kind of people." During the initial plan- ning for the Heartland His- toric Baseball Trail, the de- cision was made to apply for a tourism trails development grant that was being offered by the Indiana Office of Tourism Development. "It was a matching grant, so we contacted all the peo- ple that we thought would be interested in partner- ing with us, to try to get the matching grant," Lindauer said. "We ended up not get- ting it, unfortunately, be- cause we had bigger plans, like putting more signage up on the interstate to draw them off and making our own websites, just different things like that." After receiving word that the grant application had been rejected by the Indi- ana Office of Tourism De- velopment, a disappointed Lindauer contacted each of the sites. "And they were still all on board," Lindauer said. Jewell said that the deci- sion to pursue development of the Heartland Historic Baseball Trail – even with- out the support of the Indi- ana Office of Tourism Devel- opment – was an easy one. "Even though they didn't get the grant, it was just too good of an idea to not go ahead and do it anyway," Jewell said. "I loved the sort of, 'Hey, we're going to do this anyway' kind of attitude and approach, and we were on board for sure." The trail's sponsors – in- cluding the City of Peters- burg, which made a one- time $500 contribution, and German American Bank – contributed enough mon- ey to cover the cost of sig- nage at each of the half-doz- en sites and brochures, with some left over for mainte- nance, according to Lindau- er. "Fundraising isn't my forte, and I don't love ask- GUARANTEED! (Lose 1-2 lbs. Per Day!) Ours is only the second office in the state of Indiana approved to utilize this revolutionary new fat loss and health restoration system. There is literally NOTHING out there like it. Dr. Frank Bowling has been helping people for over 36 years to heal and lead a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life, naturally. Dr. Bowling LOSE 20 - 45 LBS. in 40 DAYS! Because of Revolutionary New Breakthrough C.E.R.F. Technology LOSE THE WEIGHT WHERE YOU WANT! (We each gain weight in different places, due to hormones.) 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Call Now for a Free In-Office Review of Our System! 866-784-9151 mural Continued from page 1 ing for money, but they all thought it was a great idea and jumped on board, and I really didn't have much problem at all," Lindauer said. Also sponsoring the Heartland Historical Base- ball Trail financially are the City of Huntingburg, the In- diana Baseball Hall of Fame, the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Associ- ation, the Gibson County Visitors and Tourism Bu- reau, the Evansville Otters, the Dubois County Tourism Commission, the Dubois County Bombers, the Lou- isville Slugger Museum & Factory, and Screen Print- ing Plus of Vincennes. In addition, officials with the Louisville Slugger Mu- seum & Factory agreed to host the trail's website. "We look at it as part of our contribution to this effort," Jewell said. "We do love get- ting the exposure in Indiana and the help to drive tourism to us, too. So we don't look at this as a one-way street. We feel like we are benefitting from this as well as contrib- uting to it, and that's what makes it worthwhile to us." Jewell said that the trail's connection with "A League of Their Own," which was based on the All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League of the 1940s, will make it very attractive to fans of the film, as well as to baseball aficionados. "That movie still reso- nates," Jewell said. "We have items in our gift shop that have one of the favor- ite quotes from the movie – 'There's no crying in base- ball.' They're great sellers." "People still connect with that movie, and I think that Hollywood is so much fun for folks," Jewell added. "So to have that kind of connec- tion as part of the trail, I think, is a great benefit." Lindauer agreed. "The Bombers have done a lot with the attendance at those games, and they're re- ally wanting to make that a historic attraction that peo- ple from all over are want- ing to come see," Lindauer said. "Think about the Field of Dreams movie up in Dy- ersville, Iowa, which brings in millions of visitors a year. We're just saying A League of Their Own is as good or even better than that movie. So why can't we do the same thing here with League Sta- dium and Bosse Field? " Jewell said that the trail's connection with Hodges – a first baseman for the Brook- lyn and Los Angeles Dodg- ers, and the New York Mets, who later managed the Mets to a World Series win in 1969 – was also important. "The whole story of his career, during the war and very honorable service – he is, I think, just a great sym- bol of what the heartland represents," Jewell said of Hodges, who was born in Princeton and graduated from high school in Peters- burg. "This trail being in the heartland, I think that he's a great face for it." In addition to the 52' x 16' mural painted by local art- ist Randy Hedden and ded- icated in 2009, a life-sized bust of Hodges – which was dedicated in 1998 – is locat- ed nearby, inside the rotun- da of the Pike County Court- house. A few miles north of Pe- tersburg, a monument to Hodges stands near the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, which carries Highway 57 over the White River into neighboring Daviess Coun- ty. "It's something that Pe- tersburg's known for, being the hometown of Gil Hodg- es," said Petersburg Mayor Frank Coleman. "It's some- thing that a lot of people are interested in. I think it's all positive. I don't see any neg- atives to it." Lindauer, who has begun distributing a full-color bro- chure that provides informa- tion about each of the trail's six sites, said that word about the Heartland Histor- ic Baseball Trail was begin- ning to spread. "I've had some people kind of ask about it," Lindau- er said. "They've heard a lit- tle bit about it, and I just en- lighten them about how the project came out. They all think it's a really neat idea and unique." "I got an email from the state tourism (office) and we might be doing an ad on the state map for 2015 that's highlighting the dif- ferent trails in the state, so that will be a great way to get the word out," Lindau- er said. "I think they print either 500,000 or 1,000,000 of those maps, so that's one plan on the advertising por- tion that I plan to do for the future." On Sunday, June 8, a cer- emony featuring Lindau- er, Coleman, Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner, Jas- per Mayor Terry Seitz and Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame executive director Ray Howard was held at League Stadium to formally dedi- cate the Heartland Historic Baseball Trail. Each of the mayors and Howard were presented with a Louisville Slugger bat with the Heartland His- toric Baseball Trail logo en- graved on it. "You know, it's been a cou- ple of years since we first heard from (Lindauer), and it's fun that this is now all ac- tually coming to life," Jew- ell said. "We're happy to be a part of this effort to pro- mote the history of baseball in this corridor, and we'd love to see it extended from here." For more information about the Heartland Histor- ic Baseball Trail, visit www. heartlandhistoricbaseball trail.com. Above: The gil Hodges mural located at the intersection of Main and 9th streets in downtown Petersburg is one of six sites included on the Heartland Historic Baseball Trail. Ed Cahill photo Right: The Heartland Historic Baseball Trail signage at the gil Hodges mural in Petersburg. Ed Cahill photo The Heartland Historic Baseball Trail logo was engraved on bats that were specially made by the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory to be pre- sented to Petersburg Mayor Frank Coleman, Jas- per Mayor Terry Seitz, Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner and Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame Ex- ecutive Director Ray Howard during a dedication ceremony Sunday, June 8, at League Stadium in Huntingburg. Ed Cahill photo A-10 Wednesday, June 11, 2014 The Press-Dispatch