About Us
La Crescent Apple Jacks Base Ball Club
Established in 2004 as a community outreach program of the La Crescent Area Historical Society
The base ball idea
In the late 1990s, Kimberly Czechowicz, a Historical Society volunteer, heard about 1860s base ball and brought up the idea as a fundraiser for the Society. At the time, we were thinking it would be just one event. Because of other projects, the time wasn't right until summer 2003, when Tim Moore, manager of the north Kwik Trip in La Crescent, played in an exhibition against the Rochester Roosters in La Crosse. He suggested that La Crescent "get into the game." Thanks to Tim, we were soon on our way.
Funding secured in 2003
By October 2003, Kimberly, Don Thesing, Randy Hafner, and I submitted a proposal to the board of the La Crescent Area Historical Society to create a club as a community outreach program. Our request was contingent on enlisting a roster of 20 players and raising $1,000, which were both achieved. Jay Friedl of Merchants Bank was excited about the idea, and the Bank approved our request for start-up funds, becoming our corporate sponsor for several years.
The first organizational meeting to recruit players was January 22, 2004, with George Horihan already on board as our first captain. Local advertising, phone calls, and personal contact helped us quickly develop the roster.
In the meantime, Kim enlisted a group of local women---Elaine Hunter, Lois Hund, Kristi Mormann, and Lisa Fiegen---to create our uniforms. Mary Jane Schmitt of the Rochester Roosters loaned us one of the Roosters shirts and shields so we could create a pattern. We purchased enough fabric for 15 shirts, shields, and caps using red as the accent color and another 15 with green as the accent. Our initial idea was to get paid to play a team of local celebrities, wearing our green uniforms, at local festivals, as many of the vintage teams did. We intended to concentrate on festivals east, west, and south of us.
Putting it all together
We proudly announced the first team at the historical society's annual meeting that spring. George organized several practices and I ordered equipment. Tim Moore became our first umpire and Alison McNally our scorekeeper. I served as manager, which meant all the off-field work (ordering bats/balls, etc.), publicity, and writing stories for the local paper. Once the team was up and running, Kim moved on to other historical projects and I remained the manager for 15 years.
The first handful of years were lean with more practices than matches. At times we had enough players to field a "red" team and a "green" team. The red/green games helped us recruit players, but we soon discovered that we needed to travel to other towns first before those teams would venture south to La Crescent to play us. Soon, we had a fuller schedule and attracted players willing to drive to La Crescent to play. Bill "Ho-hum" Ohm became our captain. It wasn't long before the Jacks became a formidable adversary and good will ambassadors for 1860s base ball and also for La Crescent.
-- Mary McLaughlin
Organizer & Manager, retired
The La Crescent Area Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
La Crescent History Center & Apple Museum
328 South Third Street
This is the historical society's home and a museum open to the public. The house includes public archives and displays. The big red shed contains tools and memorabilia of the area's apple growing history, as well as the last phone booth in the city.
The property, like the historical society itself, is run entirely by volunteers.