Donna Childers Suttle, who has a heart for Putnam Stadium like no other, will be using her gift-wrapping skills to raise money for the home of the Ashland Tomcats.

Beginning Thursday, Donna will set up a table at Corbie’s on the corner of 17^th Street and Winchester Avenue with her scissors and other tools ready to make your Christmas gift look like nobody else’s. You bring in the gift, the wrapping paper and ribbon and watch her work the magic.

She will be there from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through Dec. 21.

All she wants in return is a donation to the Putnam Stadium Restoration Committee. Several major projects remain including lights, a sound system and field turf. As Donna knows, every little bit helps.

“There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done,” she said. “We’re not finished with her.”

You can bring in gifts from outside Corbie’s to be wrapped or purchase something from the store and have it wrapped and ready to be put under the Christmas tree. She will also add ribbons to wreaths or other Christmas décor. Donna has decades of experience after working a lifetime at South Ashland Florist where her arrangements were always the best around.

Donna and her sister, Mary, closed the business this year. But, of course, Donna is itching to do something and she has no more important project than Putnam Stadium – a place near and dear to her.

The Tomcats didn’t lose a game in Putnam Stadium this year but won’t return until 2020. The rest of Ashland’s playoff games, no matter how many, will be away from home.

Make checks payable to Putnam Stadium Restoration or donate cash to the project. Credit cards cannot be accepted.

I’ll be joining Donna at Corbie’s on Nov. 30 for a book signing of Ashland Tomcats Football: A Total History. Come buy a book, bring in some gift paper and let Donna wrap it up with a special Tomcat touch. There will be no better gift for the Tomcat in your life.

We will be there for several hours on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in downtown Ashland.

The last week or so has been different and difficult for our family. My wife is in Florida with her mom and dad as they visited Fred’s ailing brother, Lowell. They didn’t know it would be his last week on earth. He died peacefully in the early morning hours of Friday at his home with his wife by his side.

None of us will escape death but we all have the opportunity to choose eternal life through Jesus Christ. It’s up to us. No group policies. Lowell chose that and Jesus called him home. He told his family as much the day before he died. Jesus was telling him to come home, he said. His wife said: “You’ve followed Him your whole life. Go.”

What a testimony! He’s better than ever.

But his family mourns. Pam, his wife of 36 years, will be separated from the love of her life the rest of her days on this earth. Fred lost his last sibling, six years his junior. Beth and her sisters have lost a favorite uncle. It’s tough to watch them mourn. But knowing it’s not the end gives them hope.

My heart aches for those left behind, for now. But Lowell’s wish wouldn’t be heartache for anyone. His wish would be for family to join him. A childhood injury took one of his eyes, but he’s seeing more clearly today than he ever did here.

Fred was Big Brother to Lowell. He was six years younger. Tom and Pauline Boggs raised some fine young men and young women. They were respectful, hard-working and compassionate. Fred is the last of five siblings who always gave more than they received. And they did it with no fanfare, because they weren’t doing it for attention. They were doing it because it was right. Lowell was like that, a friend to many. He gave so many a hand up when they needed it without anybody looking, and isn’t that how true character is defined?  He didn’t do it to say, “Hey, look at me!” He did it because he was raised that way and through his Christian convictions.

As people come to the house to pay respects, Beth has heard stories of Lowell’s generosity and the difference he made in lives there on so many different levels. Many say they owe their very lives to him. He’d tell them to give it to Jesus.

He was a school administrator and teacher by trade, a Sunday school teacher who expounded wisdom and someone who lived his life with the Lord first in his mind. What would Jesus do? That might as well have been his calling card.

I knew Lowell through our visits to Florida and, looking back, they were too infrequent. Life gets in the way sometimes. But I’ve heard the stories from Fred, who loved his little brother.  I always loved talking to Lowell and Pam. She loved him like nobody else. She’s hurting today and will for a while until she finds her “new normal.” The memories are vivid and she will have times of laughter and times of tears. But the life her husband led and is the life she has led, is filled with Christian love in her own way. God will wrap His arms around her. Rest assured of that promise.

Lowell and Fred are lookalikes and act-a-likes, too. My heart breaks for my father-in-law – the greatest man I know – as he has dealt with a lot of death recently. His best friend Harold Cathey, longtime friend and work partner Jim Downs and fellow Marine Keith Waggoner all died within a few months of each other. And now his last sibling has gone on to heaven. Fred hurts inside, but he has hope that this isn’t the end.
He also has a wife who is a Prayer Warrior like no other. Believe me, you want Alva Boggs praying for you. I love this woman, truly a second mother to me, and one of the greatest women on the planet. Fred is fortunate to have her praying for him. When she’s not sure what to do, she prays. There is nothing better.

It’s been a hard week on Beth, too. She tackles anything and everything that God tasks her to do, the most amazing woman on earth. She has been a friend, not just a niece, to her uncle and aunt this week. This would have been a much more difficult few days for them without her. I’ll never be able to thank her enough for the care she showed my mother in her last months of life. I’m sure Pam feels the same way about her today. Beth’s experience with my mother gave her the strength to be there for her uncle in ways that nobody could understand.

And for those who know Beth, she’s cut from the same cloth as her mother when it comes to being a Prayer Warrior.

How can I ever fail with those two praying for me?

Family is a blessing.

And, even in times of mourning, God is good.

Click HERE for a link to the obituary for Lowell.

ASHLAND, Ky. – The previous four CP-1 Ashland Baseball Hall of Fame ceremonies have a common denominator.

They are packed full of emotion tighter than an Army duffel bag full of baseball bats and balls.

Every year honorees are taken on an emotional roller-coaster ride as they wait their turn to briefly speak. These are grown men who played on the Central Park diamond decades ago, but the memories that rush back can sometimes overwhelm them.

It’s OK. That’s part of what makes this Saturday in August so special. Notable sluggers Jody Hamilton and Juan Thomas choked back tears. So did Phil Webb, father of Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb. As you can see, it happens to the best of them.

We may even have some eyes being wiped via Facebook Live. This year will be special for Gary Wright, who started the CP-1 movement 11 years ago with a sizable donation that turned the old diamond into a showplace complete with a grass infield and double-deck press box. The backstop is a lot closer than what these inductees will remember, too.

Wright will be watching the ceremony intently from his Florida home as his father T.R. Wright and brother, Robert, are inducted posthumously. His father was instrumental in getting many youth programs started, including the Ashland Babe Ruth League and the American Legion baseball program.

Besides being a father to his own children, he was a “father” to many of others in Ashland while grooming them to become better men. The press box dons T.R. Wright’s name as a permanent reminder of what he did for Ashland baseball. Now his name will also be on a plaque attached to the back of the press box wall, along with a class that includes son Robert  – a tremendous all-around athlete who peers say was the most feared hitter of his day.

Since Gary Wright’s donation in 2008, much has happened. Dave Carter put together an award-winning film – “Ashland’s Field of Dreams” – that has aired every year on Kentucky Education Television and is also packed with emotion. Carter also produced a short film of the same subject that was played in Cooperstown, site of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a few years ago.

The first CP-1 Hall of Fame class came a few years later in 2015 with Carter and Wright spearheading the effort. The 10 inductees going in Saturday will bring the total to 60.

The 2019 inductees are: Herb Conley, Dick Fillmore, Mike Johnson, Frank Sloan, Darryl Smith, Ed Joseph, Robert Wright, T.R. Wright, Ed Radjunas and Tobey Tolbert.

The ceremony beside the big diamond begins at 1 p.m. Admission is free. Bring your own tissues.

The fifth class of the CP-1 Hall of Fame will have induction ceremonies Saturday in Central Park. Activities begin at 1 p.m. beside the big diamond.

The weather forecast looks spectacular and emotions will be running high so bring some tissues.

As I usually try to do, I’ve put together a lineup based on the 10 inductees and, like always, it’s a stunning group.

Some guys have to play out of position, but they were all so good, it shouldn’t be a problem. One of our honorees who is in for his coaching ability – Ashland’s Frank Sloan – played some professional baseball and was a catcher before he came here. So that’s where I put him. He can also take part in an incredible coaching staff – T.R Wright, Sloan and Mike Johnson. Nobody will outcoach this team. Guarantee it.

Johnson was a catcher for the Tomcats, but I know he can play outfield. He used to tell his Babe Ruth players: “Even girls can catch popups.” So, he won’t have any trouble patrolling right field.

Tobey Tolbert could probably take care of most of the outfield by himself with his speed. I put him in center field and led him off. Speedster Dick Fillmore bats behind him while the 3-5 hitters could bang it – the great Robert Wright, powerful Herb Conley and hard-hitting Ed Joseph. Who would want to face that murderer’s row?

Darryl Smith is a natural at first base and waiting to pitch if called upon. Ed Radjunas gets the honors at the hot corner, where we had three outstanding ones. I moved Joseph to second base despite being a stellar third baseman. Conley, another good third baseman, goes to the pitching mound. That left Radjunas in his familiar home at third base.

Be sure to come out Saturday and enjoy the festivities which should be completed around 3 p.m.

Donna Childers Suttle has reserved the downtown Giovanni’s back room that holds 40 starting at 5 p.m. Everybody is invited.

1. Tobey Tolbert, cf
2. Dick Fillmore, ss-p
3. Robert Wright, lf
4. Herb Conley, p
5. Ed Joseph, 2b
6. Darryl Smith, 1b-p
7. Mike Johnson, rf
8. Ed Radjunas, 3b
9. Frank Sloan, c-coach

T.R. Wright, manager