Ralph's Benefit

A ha-huge crowd descended upon the Laundromat and Ralph's Internet Cafe Wednesday afternoon for a fund raiser sponsored by Ralph for the benefit of the Bayview Whitecaps. For those of you that have been cloistered, The Bayview Whitecaps recently won the State of Idaho 15 and under Babe Ruth championship. Next stop is the regionals at Klamath Falls, Oregon.

The regionals pit the local and Idaho champs against Montana, their first rival and other teams from Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, Washington and Oregon. This isn't just about Bayview, though. Players and coaches from Spirit Lake, Athol, and Rathdrum also are a part of this regional team.

The purpose of the fund raiser was to collect enough money to support the transportation,lodging and other expenses that the team will incur during the week spent in Klamath Falls. When the Bayview Whitecaps win the regionals, they will then travel to Arkansas for the World Championship series.

The above picture represents just a small portion of the crowd that gathered to both honor the team and donate funds for the tournament. The team ate free, and the public ate for donations. Ralph Jones, the epitome of a one man Chamber of Commerce, did it again. Oh, and did I forget to mention the raffle tickets that are on sale at Ralph's and The Buttonhook and I'm not sure about other locations? There are some great prizes as well as the satisfaction that you have helped our kids out when they needed it the most.

As a post script to this fund raiser, between the car wash the team held in Rathdrum and the fundraiser here, over three thousand dollars has been raised for the trip to Klamath Falls.