WELCOME TO THE Kiwanis
MIRACLE LEAGUE AT PRINCIPAL PARK
529 SW 5th, downtown Des Moines (just west of Principal Park) Go South on SW 5th Street off Martin Luther King Parkway
2012
Updated 11:05 AM, 1/17/12
Unable to attend our October 23 Trophy Party? Please contact your coach for your trophy and certificate.
NEWS FLASH!! Support the KML!
Buy the latest Des Moines Coupon Book at your area Hy-Vee store. For only $25, you'll be helping the KML. (Only books purchased at the Hy-Vee customer service counter will benefit KML.) All proceeds benefit our Kiwanis Miracle League.
Click here to see the full page ad in the Des Moines REGISTER: BestCouponBook9.13
2011
Our 2011 Spring and Fall Seasons are now history. Mother Nature fully cooperated for fall and we had no postponements! YIPPEE! October 23 was our annual End-of-the-Season Trophy/Pizza Party at Lutheran Church of Hope. Over 400 attended who enjoyed 90-some pizzas! We presented trophies and certificates to all players and recognized our coaches and assistant coaches with personalized plaques and a standing ovation.
Left: We set a new ball park record on June 11 for the highest scoring game. Do you believe it? 36 to 36! Another tie! Right: Our new friends from Gilbert Middle School were our "angels" for the last game of spring season, July 9. Thanks to Gilbert! And come again!
October 8: We welcomed several special buddy groups on game day. In addition to many individual buddy volunteers, we had the Central College Women's Softball Team, Kansas University student volunteers group, and the Des Moines Police Department. What a fun day for players and spectators alike!
October 15: The 57th Annual Kiwanis Pancake Festival was held at the State Fairgrounds. Many KML families took advantage of the free player ticket and experienced ALL you can eat pancakes, sausage & drinks. Proceeds benefited the Kiwanis Miracle League.
August 27: Fall season began August 27 with a special treat--all players got TWO treat tickets--one for a drink and the other for a Maid-Rite! Thanks to our Maid-Rite friends for donating enough Maid-Rites for ALL of our players!
August 6: Annual Make-A-Wish picnic/ICubs ballgame. We're pleased to partner with our MAW friends to provide a great spot for over 400 attendees! Hope all enjoyed the picnic at the KML ballpark before the I Cubsgame!
July 23: Over 150 players and family members joined us for KML NIGHT at the IOWA BARNSTORMERS. Thanks to the Barnstormers for providing TWO free tickets to every player. It was fun with LOTS of noise! Too bad the Barnstormers lost!
July 2: Thanks to our friends at area Dairy Queen stores, all players enjoyed a free Dilly Bar! What a treat on a hot day. THANKS, DQ!
June 26: Our annual Kiwanis Miracle League Day at the Iowa Cubs was a huge success. The hotdogs and burgers were great and the Iowa Cubs won! KML player Hannah, Cubs, threw the first pitch; James, Cardinals, operated the t-shirt cannon; Delaney, Twins, sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (of course!). And the silent auction produced around $2,200 for the Kiwanis Miracle League! Thanks to Al Knudsen and his committee for pulling off another great event!
June 18: What a fun night with The Iowa Barnstormers, Dowling Maroon Baseball Club/Black Team, and the East High School Girls Drill Team as our Tuesday night buddies. The rain held off and all had a great time. Hope you caught the piece about KML and the Barnstormers on KCCI/TV 8 on the 10 PM news!
Thanks to the Kiwanis Clubs of Ankeny, West Des Moines, and Des Moines Golden K for staffing our concession stand on Opening Day. Thanks to the Kiwanis Clubs of Indianola and Johnston for volunteering on May 21 and to Faith Lutheran Church on May 28, although we had to send them home due to the weather! The Johnston and Merle Hay/Urbandale clubs volunteered on June 4 and Golden K Kiwanis and Polk City Kiwanis volunteered on June 11. Faith Lutheran Church returned on June 18 along with PEO and Merle Hay/Urbandale Kiwanis. THANKS TO ALL!
Kiwanis International President Sylvester Neal arrives via West Des Moines Fire Department's antique fire engine on June 4. We placed an engraved paver on our Walk of Champions to commemorate his visit...and he took several turns pitching. What great fun!
JUNE 4: We were honored to welcome the 2010-11 president of Kiwanis International, Sylvester Neal to the Kiwanis Miracle League ball park. A retired fire chief/fire marshal from the State of Alaska, we commemorated his visit with an engraved paver in our Walk of Champions. And we found out that his pitching was pretty good, too!
MAY 7: OPENING DAY for our 2011 Spring Season and Mother Nature cooperated fully! Thanks to the ZaGaZig Clown unit, Heather Mitchell for singing our National Anthem, and the Central Campus ROTC for bringing in the colors while we raised our new American Flag that has flown above the White House, thanks to Iowa U.S. Senator Grassley. We also dedicated the long-awaited monument sign recognizing all of our capital campaign contributors. Thanks to EVERYONE for supporting our campaign--we're pleased to report that our KML ball park is fully paid for!We have nearly 210 players registered and close to 190 players played on 14 teams Saturday. SPECIAL thanks to all who volunteered as buddies including the boys' baseball and girls' softball teams from Calamus-Wheatland High School. All 26 plus their coaches made the three-hour trip to be our "Angels in the Outfield" for four afternoon games and they were tremendous! The Kiwanis Clubs of Ankeny, West Des Moines, and Golden K staffed the concession stand and they were really busy ALL DAY! Charlie Stover took individual pictures and will return for make-ups and team pictures. We also recognized our 2011 Buddy Program sponsors, the Premier Chevy Dealers of Central Iowa. Interested in test driving a new Chevy? Pick up a special coupon on Saturday. If you do a test drive, $50 will be donated to the Kiwanis Miracle League.
APRIL 23: The Young Professional Connections Organization (YPCO) again held a benefit wiffle ball tournament at our ball park on April 23. Eight to ten teams enjoyed a fun day at the ball park. Thanks to Doug Vinsand, Ankeny Kiwanis member, for coordinating the event.
2010
Our 2010 end-of-the season trophy/pizza party is now history. Over 400 players and families joined us at the Lutheran Church of Hope for a fun afternoon of food, pictures, stories and TROPHIES/CERTIFICATES. Such a great way to end the season...
If you were unable to attend the trophy party and your player doesn't have his/her trophy & certificate yet, please contact Joyce Byrne at joycelbyrne@aol.com.
Thanks to the Kiwanis Clubs of Ankeny, Adel, Polk City, Indianola, Westside, West Des Moines, Northwest, Merle Hay/Urbandale, Johnston, Altoona, Des Moines (Downtown), and Golden K, as well as Faith Lutheran Men's Group and the Danish Brotherhood Lodge for working in the stand this season.
2010 NEWS NOTES:
October 23: The Young Professionals Connection Organization sponsored a Wiffle Ball Tournament, all day on Saturday, October 23rd. Eight teams had a really good time. Looks like this might become an annual spring/fall event for YPCO. Please contact Doug Vinsand at dvinsand@deezee.com if you'd like more information! Proceeds benefit the Kiwanis Miracle League.
October 17: Last games of the Fall season, lots of fun, especially when visited by THREE National League umpires, local Tim McClelland and his fellow Des Moines umpires.
September 24: Over 60 members of the Des Moines police and Fire Departments served as our "angels in the outfield" for the night's doubleheader. All those men and women in uniform had a great time being buddies, umps, and tee managers. We hope they come back in the 2011 season!
September 14: We had a magical time at the ball park when over 60 Des Moines Police and Firefighters served as buddies for our doubleheader. What a wonderful experience--for the players, families, spectators, and other volunteers. A great time for all. THANK YOU to these special men and women who serve our community and help keep us safe!
August 15: The Iowa Redbirds from the Mid Iowa Baseball League hosted a benefit performance of the Field of Dreams Ghost Players at the Cownie Softball Complex, 2050 SE 22nd, Des Moines, 6-9 PM. Home Run Derby. Games & Prizes.The Ghost Players were pretty clever in a Live Comedy Performance. And the cheers were ample as the Ghostplayers played the Red Birds. Final score? Ghostplayers 7. Redbirds 3. Proceeds benefited Kiwanis Miracle League. A fun time. Click here for benefit flyer: FieldofDreamGhostplayerPoster072410
August 7: Des Moines area Make-a-Wish kids had a great picnic at our Kiwanis Miracle League ball park, then an exciting baseball game (Iowa Cubs won 7-3 against the Raineers) across the street at Principal Park. Many of our players are also aligned with the Make-a-Wish organization and we were delighted to host their annual event.
July 24: KCCI/TV 8 and Advenures in Advertising co-sponsored the Inaugural KCCI/Kiwanis Wiffle Ball Tournament. Twelve teams enjoyed a full day of wiffle ball and fun at Iowa's first Miracle League field, including the Shiffler Wifflers and the Keck Sparklers! The Miracle League Board Has Been's received an unexpected boost from KCCI's Steve Karlin (thank goodness!). Registration materials at www.register-mlw.org. For more information, click on "news" at left.
July 10: Thanks to our Dairy Queen friends for supplying Dilly Bars (Yummy!) for all players and many volunteers throughout the day.
June 18--Des Moines is Named 2010 All America City with help of Kiwanis Miracle League at Principal Park.
Click on "news" (left) for more information.
June 12--We've had some special visitors this year including Iowa's U.S. Senator
Tom Harkin (Dem). Tom donned one of our "Angels in the Outfield"
T-shirts and was a very good tee manager for the White Sox and Orioles 1 PM game.
June 20--What a fun time we all had at "KML Day at the Iowa Cubs" along with all the various Little Leagues around town. We celebrated Father's Day, lunched on burgers & dogs on the mezzanine, and enjoyed the Iowa Cubs game--even though we didn't see a win! Thanks also to all who contributed to our Silent Auction, or perhaps placed a bid or two. We raised slightly more than $2,500 for our continued KML operations.
(above) Twins player, Delaney, sings her favorite song--the "7th Inning Stretch"!June 8--The Iowa Barnstormers (arena football) team were our "Angels in the Outfield". Thanks to Coach Gregory and his team for making a very special evening for four of our teams.
At our February 20, 2010 Players Clinic, our players wrote letters to the Iowa Cubs...asking them to attendone of our next clinics, or one of our games at the Kiwanis Miracle League site. Here's Miranda writing her letter.
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OUR 2009 SEASON
Our Fall Season is over! Over 145 players played. And nearly 400 volunteers made it all happen by serving as buddies, working in the concession stand, participating in "work days" at the site, and serving on committees.What a great time we've all had.
Our end-of-the-season players' party, complete with trophies, was Sunday, October 18, at The Orange Planet. Thanks to one of our great supporters, David Charleston, for allowing us to use TOP facilities. What a beautiful place.
We had nearly 500 players, families, and volunteers! All enjoyed pizza, trophies, and fun! There was even a surprise telephone call from Santa Claus, complete with a special drawing for a motorized scooter. A great time was had by all!
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Our last games of the 2009 Fall Season turned out to be October 4 as Mother Nature decided to bring in questionable weather for games on October 6 and 11. Coaches and players said this was the best season ever, especially getting to "play under the lights" on September 29. Dalton, a member of the Cubs team, had our first out of the park home run. (We had 3 more home runs in the rest of the season.) Delaney (Mets) delighted us all with her singing of Take Me Out to the Ball Game between innings. Evan (Yankees) is still incredulous that all his games ended in a tie! All say they are looking forward to next year at the Kiwanis Miracle League park!
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Our last games of the Spring Season were Saturday, July 11. The weather was wonderful, spectators and buddies plentiful, and all the players on every team enjoyed our last day of Miracle League play in our Spring Season. Special thanks to our friends at Dairy Queen for supplying concession volunteers and Dilly bars for our players.
The Iowa Barnstormers were our "angels in the outfield" on July 6. Hope you caught the great coverage on WHO-TV/Channel 13 news!
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SPRING 2009
Over 100 kids played ball on our Opening Day on May 30--and what a fun event!
Click on the video below and watch how miracles happened...
2008
Nearly 400 joined us for special ceremonies and nearly 60 kids played their first game on our new field. Miracles happened with smiles all around. Several hundred people joined with us in celebrating the building of Iowa's first Miracle League Field in downtown Des Moines. Our goal is to make the game of baseball within reach of EVERY child, regardless of their abilities. Partnering with the Iowa Cubs and the Greater Des Moines Leadership Class of 2007-08, we've created a "field of dreams" across from Principal Park, where the Iowa Cubs play. Thanks to a significant gift of $100,000, kids will be playing on the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines Field. And thanks to a significant gift of $111,000 from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation, we will be building our "phase 2" covered pavillion, hopefully ready for our 2010 spring season.
Our mission is to offer accessible recreational opportunities for children with special needs so that they can participate in a team sport as a member of an organized baseball league. Not only have we provided an opportunity for kids with special needs to play baseball, but we have also engaged the central Iowa community in our efforts, through financial commitments to the construction of the special facility AND unique volunteer opportunities through our "buddy" system. We cannot change or cure the medical issues life has dealt our children with disabilities. What we can do is provide them with an opportunity to experience the joy and benefits that come from playing our national pastime — baseball! We truly believe that
every child deserves a chance to play baseball!
Last year, we were far enough into our construction that we were able to hold opening ceremonies on September 28 and kids got to play 5 games in our "exhibition season", THANKS to the many volunteers who served as buddies, grilled hot dogs, prepared the site for games, and did general clean-up.
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We will have numerous volunteer opportunities going forward. Please check out the volunteer opportunities on our volunteer page or contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Jan Burch, at MLVolunteers@downtowndesmoineskiwanis.org if you want to be a "buddy" or assistant coach. If you can lend a hand at the site. please email us at miracleleague@downtowndesmoineskiwanis.org. See details at "VOLUNTEERS NEEDED NOW."
We continue to need YOUR support! Please consider making a contribution at whatever level you can. (More information is available on our "donations/contribution" page.)
THANK YOU.
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Here's progress on our site! We look just like the Iowa Cubs across the street! Our late 2009-early 2010 project was to add a picnic pavilion at the site--named the Richard O Jacobson pavilion. Here's how far we got before the "snows of 2009-10" kept us from doing anything more. We've also added a "memory garden"next to the pavillion. If you would like to purchase an engraved commemorative brick for a loved one, please contact us.
Every child deserves a chance to play baseball!
THANKS to all!
OPENING DAY 2010
May 15's Opening Day exceeded all of our expectations! We dedicated the new Richard O. Jacobson Pavilion & Surrounding Area (including our Memory Garden & Kiwanis Walk). We were pleased to hear remarks from the Mayor of the City of Des Moines, Frank Cownie, and the Nebraska-Iowa District Governor of Kiwanis, Ron Petsch. DG Ron threw out the first ceremonial pitch prior to the ZaGaZig Shrine Clowns playing the Urbandale Girls Softball team in a special exhibition game! Play started at noon with the Mets vs.the Red Sox. The highlight of the day was totally unanticipated nor planned--little Devin Hunt, 7, on the Mets team sang our National Anthem acapella. There wasn't a dry eye in the place! Thanks to Ronald McDonald House Charities for sponsoring the 5K and 10K Fun Run in the morning and to the Altoona Kiwanis Club for the pancake breakfast. We had over 195 kids registered and expanded from ten to 14 teams. New team rosters were distributed on May 22 and new uniforms distributed June 5. We had a FULL play schedule and lots of fun!
Thanks to Stover Photography for being our official KML photographer.
October 2: Second Annual Wiffle Ball Classic. Six teams played double elimination with Troy Ashby's team the winner! Great to watch the Home Run Derby--some pretty serious batters participated! Proceeds benefite the Kiwanis Miracle League. Thanks to Doug Vinsand for coordinating! Next year's Wiffle Ball Classic will be in July.
