We have a gentleman, whose name is Donnie Roberts, who owns five collegiate baseball teams — one of them being the Albert Lea Lakers. Donnie decided to bring baseball back to Albert Lea as it was years ago with the town team called the Packers and asked for no money from the city of Albert Lea and just thought it would be a good fit for us. I just wonder how many people remember how it was with baseball many, many years ago?

This is a great opportunity for the community of Albert Lea, whether we know it or not, to be so fortunate to have someone invest in our community. He has five teams: Albert Lea Lakers, Storm Lake White Caps, Carroll Merchants, Bancroft Bandits and the Sioux Falls Gold. Each one of these teams has on average of 20 fine young men who are and want to pursue baseball as a career either in the college they are attending or in the professional baseball field in the Majors.

What a great opportunity for the Albert Lea community to be blessed to have around 100 young men see our fine community at no tax dollars to bring them here from all over the United States. What a showcase for us as community members to have this group of men to see our community at no cost. If 10 percent of these men who see Albert Lea said later on in life that they like Albert Lea and came back to invest and settle down in this area — this is why we need to support them and make them feel welcome and leave a lasting impression with them while they are here. They are getting involved with extra things in the community. They are putting on a baseball clinic at Little Hayek at 10 a.m. every Monday for all younger boys and girls. Support them by saying hi to them when you see them about, and come down to their baseball games at Hayek and have some food from the concession stand and have a cold beer or beverage of your choice. They have a website: AlbertLeaLakers.com or can be found on Facebook at AlbertLeaLakers7. Find out more about them and where they are from.

Remember, the Albert Lea Lakers are one of the best ambassadors Albert Lea has right now.

A big thank you goes out to all the host families who are making these young men feel at home!

David Mullenbach

Albert Lea