At last, local Little League opening-day ceremonies, an annual rite of early spring, are back after a two-year COVID hiatus.
Good deal. They were missed.
McLean Little League held its ceremony, along with a parade, the chilly morning of Saturday, March 26 at its three-field Westmoreland Street complex. Great Falls Little League did the same on March 26 at the Nike Field complex.
Vienna Little League has its ceremony scheduled for Saturday, April 16. Arlington Little League will do the same on Sunday, April 3.
None of the leagues held such ceremonies the past two years, despite eventually playing games.
Opening-day ceremonies are big community events, usually with local politicians glad-handing all over the place, even taking part in the parades. There were none on hand at McLean Little League’s event, which was scaled down a bit from past years, and not sure anyone even noticed.
Still, the event was fun and back to normal. And at the end, as is the case at most Little League opening-day ceremonies, it concluded with the two words: “Play Ball.”
– Dave Facinoli
dfacinoli@sungazette.net