by Sue Orsen
Despite the hot and steamy weekend of July 20^th to 22^nd, hundreds of people were lured from their air-conditioned homes to hang out at Lions Park in Victoria.  The annual Lions Tournament Weekend does that to people, people of all ages, especially young people.
And if one has been attending these weekend gatherings since their inception over thirty years ago, one might say it's becoming a younger town each year.  Everywhere you turned at the tournament, there was a babe in arms ... and a burger in hands.
Lion LeRoy Worm, tournament director for the fourth year in a row, reported there were 175 Lions and spouses scheduled to sell hamburgers, pop, and beer, and work in other capacities that weekend.  He also spoke highly of the boys scouts who helped maintain the grounds all three days of the tournament, along with the girls of the Victoria Lions Fastpitch Association.  His accolades went especially to the Golden Valley Umpires under the "lead man," Bill Kottke, 74, who has been doing this for the Victoria Lions for 25 years.
Yes, ballgames and a ballgame atmosphere are the magnets of the Lions Weekend.  LeRoy said there were 57 teams in the tournament this year, a record number.  He had sent out 75 invitations in May.  Prize money went to 21 teams.  All of the entry fees are spent on prizes, umpires, and balls. 
There were 14 Victoria-sponsored teams including Schmieg Family-Midcounty Coop, Krause Electric, Forcier Plumbing, Interstate Batteries, Timberwall, Diethelm-Kerber, Hartman Communuities, two from Jeurissen's-Floyd's Bar, and five from Schmitty's Tavern.  The team traveling the farthest for this tournament came from Wassau, Wisconsin.
Sixteen of the teams were Women's Slowpitch, 33 were men's slowpitch, and 8 were men's modified fastpitch.  Over the three days, there were 101 ballgames scheduled, and they all played on the four fields at Lions Park in Victoria.
Thank you, LeRoy, for all the information and for your work.  Thank you, Victoria Lions, for making this large event in Old Town Victoria an annual fun time for people of all ages, especially Young Town Victoria.  It's quite becoming.

To view the photos as exhibited on the front pages of the print Victoria Gazette, go to "Sue's Album" (the icon with red heart back at the home page ) and click on "Victoria Lions Weekend July 2001."