In great detail, Al Flora and John Sinclair recently explained how the Northwest Area Little League made use of its $250,000 American Rescue Plan funding from Luzerne County Council.
Speaking at a council meeting with several young players in the front row, Flora said the funding covered the cost of materials for a new lighting system at the league’s Shickshinny area complex, but not the labor to install it.
“I can tell you the labor was extensive, and it was all voluntary,” said Flora, an attorney and active league supporter.
He introduced league vice president and coach Sinclair, a Pennsylvania-registered professional electrical engineer who volunteered his time and expertise to plan the project, assist with installation and oversee fellow volunteers “to make this project a reality.”
Informed of the funding in March 2023, Sinclair said the league knew it had to get started to ensure the project was fully completed by its July 1, 2024 deadline.
After creating the project and researching vendors, the league chose a system from Wisconsin-based Musco Lighting because it specializes in sports lighting and met strict Little League requirements.
The order was placed the end of June, and the “real work” began after July 4, when a “horde” of volunteers appeared to start trenching, he said.
On one of the project work days alone, a group of 13 adults and five Little League players dug 1,000 feet of trenching and installed more than 5,000 feet of electrical conduit, he said.
“So almost a mile of conduit was put underground,” he said.
Everything was backfilled and sealed up to allow games to safely continue there.
The lighting started arriving in mid-August, and the volunteers worked with a local contractor who provided the equipment to drill holes down 12 feet for the concrete foundations.
Once the foundations were completed, the “fun started happening,” he said.
In early September, the volunteers pulled in more than 14,000 feet of wire underground for the lights and used a loaned crane to set the 60-foot-high poles, which weigh about 2,600 pounds fully loaded, he said.
A dozen triaxles of stone — 240 tons — was placed around trenches and pole foundations to illuminate two fields.
“So within about two weeks we had our poles off the trucks and up in the air and ready to go,” he told council.
Sept. 10 was a night Sinclair said he will remember the rest of his life.
With all the wiring connections completed, he and other adults were like eager kids unable to postpone testing out the new system.
Urgent messages went out to players and parents to be there at 8:30 p.m., hoping for the best.
It was a clear night, and there was a collective countdown that ended in cheers over the transformation.
“I don’t think there was a dry eye amongst any of the volunteers standing there,” Sinclair said. “A bunch of T-ball, softball, minor and major boys all on their own went down and played a pick-up game of whiffle ball.”
Sinclair said he and the others fully absorbed the scene.
“I still feel emotional when I think about it because what we did that day, that year, that summer was for that purpose — to see those kids play that game together and work together.”
The second field was for the girls softball league organized in 1975, and it was never lit, he said.
That league had their first game under lights on Sept. 15, and Sinclair mentioned he got texts of gratitude and descriptions of girls crying on the field in response to the experience.
Altogether, the volunteer group of 13 adults and five players spent more than 1,000 hours working on the project, he said.
Musco representatives were surprised at how quickly the project was completed compared to the typical contractor schedule, he said.
Before the county allocation, the league was struggling to figure out how to come up with $30,000 to $40,000 to replace the poles and crossarms of the previous outdated lighting system, he said.
Because the new lights meet Little League requirements, Sinclair stated that his league can now host district games and tournaments, including a girls softball district tournament this summer.
The new lighting has a 25-year warranty, which means the league doesn’t have to worry about maintenance and can focus on developing programs, players and the complex, he said.
He described the energy savings as “pretty amazing.”
The switch to LED lights will save more than $2,000 annually on the league’s electric bill — while lighting two fields instead of one, he said.
Sinclair estimated the savings on maintenance and electricity will total $70,000 over 25 years, and he expects the new lighting will last for 50 to 60 years.
Spectators also appreciate that the lighting reaches the once-dark parking area, he said.
With night lighting, late games were added to make it easier to schedule two games per week for the more than 230 players on 21 teams, he said.
This year’s participation of more than 230 Little Leaguers is impressive, Sinclair said.
“That is huge considering that most programs are in decline and have been in decline for many years,” he said.
Flora said the volunteer engineering and labor provided by Sinclair is “hard to imagine.” He noted league coach Brian Tomassacci donated his crane, backhoe and bulldozer and operated the equipment to install the lights.
The Northwest Area Little League was organized in 1971, Flora said. The complex is used by youth from 10 municipalities in the southwest area of the county, he said. There’s also a challenger program for children with disabilities.
Sinclair presented council with a plaque sliced from one of the old lighting poles bearing a laser-etched league logo, thanking council for its dedication to the youth and the public “gift” of an American Rescue allocation.
“We hope we’re doing it right and doing it right for everybody out there,” Sinclair said.
In turn, council Chairman John Lombardo thanked the men for taking the time to share how the allocation impacted them, saying it “was not easy” when council had to determine how the money would be awarded amid a demand that far exceeded available funding.
Council set aside $55 million of the federal funding for 113 external organizations.
An enthusiastic baseball fan, county Manager Romilda Crocamo mentioned she recently attended the field for the league’s opening ceremony and hopes to come back for a game.