Saturday, January 28, 2012

Mark Jones!

My dad and grandpa sell cars together and recently had a pretty cool customer. After they were talking to him they found out that he was a professional baseball player in the Astros organization. Mark Jones was drafted in 2009 out of our school district, Manheim Township. We love to read about the local guys that get drafted and are playing professional baseball...and there are quite a few. After Mark picked up his car, he brought in a card and signed it. That was really cool. Thanks Mark!

I am going to work on getting some of the other local guys cards signed during the off season as well. I better hurry up though...pitchers and catchers report soon! (scanner is not working so it is a blurry pic...will have fixed soon)


Today's Autographs: 1
2012 autographs: 32
2012 $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $1.92

Saturday, January 21, 2012

You and Me on a Comeback

Last Saturday night we watched the Barnstormers and Revolution throw a different kind of strikes. Jed Morris is a former Barnstormer who battled cancer and was able to make a comeback. He started a foundation called You and Me on a Comeback to help support those that are battling caner. Check out their website and see how they have been able to help people going through cancer. They have a big fundraiser in January each year where you can spend a Saturday afternoon bowling and bidding on some cool items in their silent auction. They end the night by having a "Battle of the Roses" between the Barnstormers and Revolution. It is always a lot of fun and for a great cause. York won again by 3 pins but it was a blast. It's always fun to connect with our friends from the Atlantic League during the off season. We were able to get a couple of autographs but mainly just took in the action. Also, thanks to our friend Sandy, we will get to spend a winter evening at the ballpark...ice skating!

Check out Jed's site and see the great job he is doing! www.youandmeonacomeback.org

Jed Morris and his wife Genevieve

Blake and Gavin with Cylo and Downtown

Jed thanking his supporters

Blake and Ross Peeples supporting Tim Tebow and the Broncos

Gavin with Nick Renault

Gavin with Jed in 2010


Today's Autographs: 2
2012 autographs: 31
2012 $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $1.87

Friday, January 13, 2012

Remembering a Legend

We love hearing stories of some of the old time baseball players. Some of my dad's favorites were Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Andre Dawson, Mike Schmidt, and Dave Winfield. Even before those guys would step onto a baseball field, there was Jackie Robinson. He broke the color barrier in baseball back in 1947 and opened the doors for African Americans to play baseball in the Major Leagues.

His daughter Sharon Robinson was coming to the Lititz Library to sign books, talk about her dad, and telling us all what it was like growing up the daughter of Jackie Robinson. We spent over 2 hours listening to her stories, checking out her books, and asking questions. One of the coolest stories was about their first Christmas in Brooklyn which she wrote about in Jackie's Gift. At the end she signed her books for us.

It was a really cool afternoon listening to her stories comparing baseball back then to now. She is a great author of books for all ages and has a job in MLB as the director for educational programs. If you get a chance, check out one of her books.

Baseball helps remember the legacy of Jackie by retiring the number 42. So, today we will donate .42 for our autographs from Sharon. Thanks Sharon!



Today's Autographs: 2
2012 autographs: 29
$ Raised for Alopecia Areata: $.42
2012 $ Raised for Alopecia Areata: $1.77

Sandy's Stars

For our first donation of 2012 we have to go back a few months. We are starting off back in November and including that in 2012 because of computer problems. After the season was over, Sandy Keys called us and had some cards from previous Barnstormers seasons to donate to us. When we met her she gave us a signed mini bat, signed ball, and some Barnstormers signed cards. Sandy became our friend during the season as she loved to see our videos and support what we were doing. Thanks again Sandy!











Today's Autographs: 27
2012 autographs: 27
2012 $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $1.35

Monday, January 9, 2012

Thank You!

We wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to all who have donated to NAAF through Autographs 4 Alopecia. We have made a donation page for to show our appreciation for a great first year that we had. We couldn't have done it without you. The total raised in year 1 was $1,352.30! Pretty good for a goal of $50. We had no idea it could become so big. We are looking forward to bigger and better things for the coming year. I am going to be posting about a couple of other year end autographs received but will include them in the 2012 total since we were knocked out by our computer. If you sent a check to NAAF and your name is not on the list, please let us know so we can include you as well. Thanks and looking forward to a great 2012!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Football Playoffs!

We were looking back at the kid reporter videos we did this summer and it was interesting to see some of the favorite teams and if they have a shot at the championship...take a look.



So here is who has teams left:

Mr. Hobson likes Alabama and the Patriots and both still have a shot at winning it all. Even with Tommy's lack of confidence in Alex Smith, the 49ers are still in the Super Bowl hunt...which has to make him happy in the off season. As for us, we are mostly Eagles fans and we know how that turned out. I am a HUGE Tim Tebow and now Broncos fan so hoping they can upset the Steelers tomorrow! GB2

So, here are Gavin and I's picks for the weekend:

Gavin: Bengals, Saints, Giants, Broncos
Blake: Texans, Saints, Falcons, Broncos (heart pick)

Who do you like?

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Technical Difficulties!

During the last couple of months we have had computer problems that did not allow us to do any updating to the blog. Thankfully we got a new laptop for Christmas from my grandparents and will be back up and running. There were several things happen over the last couple of months to update you on as well as some exciting things we are expecting for 2012! Stay tuned...