“2009 – A summer devoted to Kenny V.”
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Greetings!!
We hope your spring and summer are going well. For those of you who may not know, for Ken Vierling things are not going so well. Back in April 2009, Ken was involved in a tragic automobile accident in Colorado. The accident resulted in Kenny’s friend being killed and the prognosis is that Kenny’s chances of ever walking again are not great.
Kenny graduated from Owatonna in 1974. He has lived there and in the Twin City area his entire life. Ken has umpired in Minnesota for many years. He basically started umping right out of high school and at the current age of 53 has 35 years of umpiring experience at this time!! Ken has umped Fastpitch softball at all levels from girl’s Junior Olympic to High School to College to the Mens Level, including umping in Men’s Fastpitch World Tournaments. Finally, when not on a Fastpitch field, Ken has umped many Mens & Womens Slowpitch games as well.
As you can see, umping and being on the softball field is Kenny’s life. He is a true umpire “through and through” and a real “blue”. Ken certainly will not umpire this season and although nobody has a “crystal ball”, chances are great that he will never ump again. But Ken is a “battler” and along with some help and support from us, he will fight this battle.
Obviously, Ken and his family will face great financial issues in the future. In the short run, aside from astronomical hospital bills, some of his family have basically (and instantly), up and moved to Colorado to be by Ken’s bedside. They have been in Denver since his accident, and anticipate remaining there, until Ken’s return to Minnesota. And in the long run, down the road, there will be income issues for a long time, as employment potential will certainly be very questionable.
This tragic event has certainly changed their lives in many ways. Therefore, we are planning a couple different fundraisers at this time to help Kenny and his family as follows:
1. We are hoping all will come together in whichever way they can and help out with the Fundraiser for Kenny to be held at the Farmington American Legion on Saturday, August 29, 2009. We have tickets printed up and they are available for sale. So for now, our first and most immediate priority is to get the ticket sales going. We need friend, relatives and/or whomever to step up and sell and buy tickets. At a high level, the tickets come in books of 10 and sell for $10. Please see the “Saturday, August 29 in Farmington” button for further details. If you want tickets, we will get them to you no matter where you are located in the world!! Just contact either one of us as follows:
Les Novak……….Phone: 612-750-1340…………….or email: BestUmpLN@aol.com
Paul Harrington……………Phone: 612-940-6363…………….or e-mail: paulyharrington@aol.com
2. We are hoping that the umpire community will come together and support Kenny and his family. One thing you can do right now is: “Ump a Game(s) for Kenny” and help out a “fellow blue”. Please see the “Ump a game for Kenny” button for further details.
3. In conjunction with the Fundraiser on August 29, we will need donated items for the Silent Auction, doorprizes for the night of the event and assistance on August 29 to make it all work. See details in the “Silent Auction, etc.” button for further details.
So we encourage you to look over all the information and help out however you can. If you have any questions, please contact Paul or Les as indicated above.
For continual updates on Kenny’s health and recovery process, please contact the following Caring Bridge website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/comicdude
Thank you!!!!