Joe Nuxhall Miracle Fields opening day parade set; new mascot to be unveiled
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FAIRFIELD – A mascot for the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League Fields will be introduced during an opening day parade to kick off the baseball season.
After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions, the opening day parade begins at 10 a.m., April 23, leaving from the parking lot of Sacred Heart Church.
“We’re excited to bring it back. It’s one of the highlights for the kids,” said Kim Nuxhall, president and chairman of the Nuxhall Foundation.
“We hope the streets are lined again with signs for our kids.”
The 45-minute parade will travel down River Road to Mississippi Drive, to Groh Lane to the fields.
This is the 10th anniversary of the fields that were built to accommodate youth and adults with special needs including wheelchair-bound athletes.
Serving as grand marshal is retiring WKRC-TV anchor John Lomax, a longtime supporter who will lead a crew of special needs all-stars in the parade. Among them will be Cincinnati Reds bat boy Teddy Kremer, mascots Rosie Red and Gapper, and the 1969 Cincinnati Red Stockings vintage baseball team.
Since the fields opened in July 2012, playgrounds, wheelchair accessible merry-go-round and glider, bocce courts, a basketball goal, mini-golf course, video board, pavilion area, and images of Joe Nuxhall and Fairfield grad Taylor Prazinski – killed in 2005 while serving in Iraq – have been added to the complex.
This year a harmony bell and petal feature will be added to the playground areas for the anniversary,
Both the Great Miami Valley YMCA Youth League and the Therapeutic Recreation for the Disabled Adult League use the fields with more than 200 youth and adult athletes competing each season.
“We have so much to celebrate with this year’s parade,” Nuxhall said. “Our 10th anniversary, the awesomeness and big-league character of John Lomax, Teddy Kremer’s forthcoming award, our new mascot, and of course our all-stars, families, and volunteers that have made this parade worth the wait.”
New mascot will be unveiled
The mascot, like the players, will have some sort of disability, said Tyler Bradshaw, executive director of the foundation.
“The mascot will represent a disability many of our players will identify with,’’ Bradshaw said.
The mascot will initially be used at games on the fields, foundation events and will be available to visit at the schools
In connection with the introduction of the mascot will be the release of a book that ties in with the mascot and character education, Nuxhall said. The books will be available for sale following the parade.
Bradshaw said the foundation is looking for individuals who would be willing to don the mascot costume and be available to appear at school and community events.
Anyone interested is invited to call the foundation at 513-829-6899 or email info@nuxhallmiracleleague.org.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Joe Nuxhall Miracle Fields opening day parade set
