NEW ULM — The Second Annual “Military Appreciation Day” at Johnson Park was another success.

“It was a good event and it got some veterans out of their homes and down to Johnson Park,” said Kyle Marti of Schells Brewery and organizer of the event.

Around 275 fans attended the Tomahawk East League game between the New Ulm Brewers and Sleepy Eye.

The New Ulm Baseball Association donated a free meal of a cheeseburger, French fries and a beverage to 82 veterans who attended, compared to 76 last year.

“New Ulm baseball does a great job of supporting the event — they gave out free meals and a beer to the vets — the Legion Riders were great, and I thought it was a really nice event.”

Marti said the veterans in attendance really liked the event.

“They liked the fact that there is an appreciation for what they have done and they liked the fact that it is a day at the park,” he said. “It is another way to show the pride of their service. Any way that we can highlight that, because there are some people who never really got that gratitude from the public when they came back so in a way we are righting some of the wrongs of the past.”

Marti said that he works with NUBA members LeRoy Flor and Rick Traulich in planning the event.

“They both do a great job in getting this organized,” he said.

Marti said it is sometimes tough to have the event on the weekends, especially with some of the assisted living homes in getting transportation.

“But you are not going to get as many people during the week, so it is kind of a give-and-take. The transportation piece is the one thing that we have not figured out.”

One of the special parts of the event that no one else has is the New Ulm Battery, who fired their cannon immediately after the National Anthem.

“They have been great and are always ready to help,” Marti said. “It is not a small feat to move their cannon across town — they specially make everyone of those shots that they fire and some of the material they use is not readily available and it takes a special process to make every one of those shots. People do not realize what goes into everyone of those salvos — and that is a treasure New Ulm has that many people do not realize how cool that really is.”

Something new this year was a “Veteran of the Inning” as a veteran was recognized between innings.

“This year we tried to get each service their time in the sun and it gave a chance for that veteran to stand up and be recognized,” Marti said. “And we had Denny Warta throw out the first pitch — he is a treasure of New Ulm.”

Marti said that he wants to work on the transportation issue from the homes for next year’s event.

“There are a lot of veterans in homes that would attend the game if there was transportation available — that is the one thing we need to fine-tune.”

Marti said he is working on ideas for next year.

“But what I do not want to do is to slow the game down — we want to do the most that we can but being the least disruptive.”

“We had a nice crowd there and we will do it again next year.”

RADLOFF, HELGET TO HAVE NUMBERS

RETIRED SUNDAY

Sunday is “Essig Bluejay Day” when Essig battles St. James at 7 p.m. in a Tomahawk East League game in Essig.

Prior to the game at 6:30 p.m., the uniform numbers of Terry Helget (#20) and Doug Radloff (#17) will be retired.

A full slate of games will start beginning at 1 p.m. with games on both Essig fields. A full concession stand will be available as well as a Silent Auction.

JUNIOR LEGION RANKED NUMBER ONE

The New Ulm Junior Legion is ranked number one in D-I Junior Legion.

New Ulm is followed by Bemidji, Wayzata, Excelsior, Holy Angels, Bayport, New Prague, Eden Prairie, Mankato American and Farmington.