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Old-time baseball reenactors coming to historical society
new slt baseball 1890s team
This photo of a Great Bend baseball team is believed to have been taken in the 1890s. A free program on the history of baseball will be presented Monday evening at the Barton County Historical Society Museum. - photo by COURTESY PHOTO

 

 

 

 

America’s Pastime will be celebrated Monday with a free program at the Barton County Historical Society Museum and Village.

Starting at 6 p.m., reenactors will depict area baseball teams from the late 1800s, and demonstrate how the game used to be played. Peanuts, popcorn, hotdogs and lemonade will be available at the museum, located just south of the Arkansas River Bridge on U.S. 281.

At 7:30 p.m. Professor Frederick Krebs will present "Root Root Root for the Home Team: Community Baseball and the American Dream."

The presentation will display memorabilia, including a "mushroom bat" that was handed down to Historical Society member Robert Parrish from his father. Participants are encouraged to bring their own items and stories of pre-1960s baseball, said Beverly Komarek, executive director of the historical society.

From the 1860s to the 1960s, baseball was uncontested as "American’s Favorite Pastime" — perhaps as important as video games and television are today for entertainment. The Barton County Historical Society has a baseball that went through both the Spanish-American War and World War I. "That’s what a soldier carried off to war (for entertainment)," Komarek said. Barton County had numerous town teams, and photos at the museum show jerseys that mention Great Bend, Hoisington, Olmitz and Blood Creek, said Karen Neuforth, research coordinator for the Historical Society.

Krebs, a professor of Social Science and Humanities at Johnson County Community College and a charter member of the Kansas Humanities Council Speakers Bureau, says minor league and town team baseball built a framework of shared values that strengthened Kansas communities. Using ideals of teamwork, fair play, community spirit and hard work, baseball teams reinforce the importance of community in Kansas towns. Games and players were role models and many players went on to become community leaders.

This free program is open to the public and is made possible by the Kansas Humanities Council, a non-profit organization promoting understanding of the history and ideas that shape our lives and strengthen our sense of community.