$1,000 rifle & scope package to be raffled off

Altha Rec Committee

making improvements

for 2026 ball season

by Teresa Eubanks, CLJNews.com

ALTHA, FL – Volunteers are busy getting ready for next year’s Altha Dixie League Youth Baseball, Softball and T-Ball season and hope the community will support their efforts by purchasing raffle tickets for a new rifle and scope package, valued at $1,000.

The winner will be announced after the Nov. 19 drawing for a Ruger American Generation II .308 rifle and Hawke Vantage Scope.  Tickets are $10 each, $25 for 3 or $100 for 15 chances to take the rifle home.  The details are listed on the Altha Recreational Committee Facebook page, including three online payment options.

There are plenty of kids who want to play and the Altha Rec Committee is busy rounding up equipment, maintaining the field and taking care of other duties needed for a successful program.

This past year, there was an upsurge in participation in the Altha sports program with over 120 kids taking part, about twice as many as participated in the 2024 season.  The rec committee is working to build on that growing number with the new season, which starts in late March, but a few more volunteers could really help them make the most of the their program.

Unlike most communities in our area, Altha isn’t eligible to receive inmate labor to prepare their ball field because it is owned by the town and not the county; nor do they have the funds to hire someone to manage the rec facility.

“It’s a tough situation,” said League President Kruiz Dickerson, who has coached with the league for eight years and served currently serves as president.  He said parent volunteers sometimes have to leave their jobs early to go work on the field, as well as round up and repair sports equipment.

In the past, some local children have joined rec programs in surrounding communities that offered updated equipment  as well as a larger pool of volunteers to help with the Dixie League season.

But this year, the league was able to purchase eight new catching sets for kids – outfitting them with new chest guards, mitts, helmets and knee guards, along with some other much-needed equipment.

Volunteers have also been busy rebuilding the pitching mound, which has long been problem.  Other area leagues use a low-maintenance fiberglass pitching mound, which costs around $1800.   The folks in Altha had to make their own out of wood, which sometimes tripped up the kids but they made it work, Dickerson said.

A pitching mound and a side-by-side vehicle for working on the grounds top the list of needs for their ball fields.  It’s hoped that the money raised from the raffle will fund those purchases, said Dickerson, because, “We have to rebuild a new field every year.”

Having a youth sports program like this is critical, said Dickerson, who is concerned that with the online distractions of social media, kids today have “very little interaction in the real world.”

Sign-up dates will be announced early next year.

For more information, visit the Altha Recreational Committee page on Facebook…and buy a raffle ticket!

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