When Vista's Rancho Buena Vista Little League All-Star team runs onto the South Williamsport, Pa., field at noon Saturday to compete in the Little League World Series, longtime North County resident Oliver R. Clark will be sitting back in his chair in his Vista home to watch the action on ESPN.
Not inclined to boasting, the quiet entrepreneur and civic activist said he's "real proud" of this hard-hitting baseball team and hopes they return with the winner's trophy.
He'll also privately reflect on when Vista Little League began in this fair city 52 years ago.
After serving in World War II, Clark moved to Vista, opened Clark's Inc. floor coverings in 1945, and chartered the city's first Kiwanis Club in 1946. By 1953, he had built the club's membership to 53 members and "we decided to bring Little League baseball to Vista. Heck, at that time, few folks in Vista knew what it was."
Clark said charter members Roy Harvey, Robert Mulbarger, Robert Crozier and Robert Pope were the first team managers and sponsors. "Bob Crozier contributed a lot of money for equipment and for improving the field we used," which stands today behind Lincoln Middle School.
Thanks to the efforts of Clark, Kiwanis Club members and other volunteers, the Little League has grown in Vista. Today, there's the National, American and of course the determined young men from Rancho Buena Vista leagues who compete in the summer.
Even though he's 88, Clark remains active in his family business and keeps his eyes on Vista's teams. Not one to stand by idly, Clark wrote a check for $100 to support the fund-raiser to meet expenses associated with getting the team from the rolling hills of Vista to the hot and humid Keystone State for the center stage of Little League baseball.
"It's not much," Clark said of the contribution. "I don't have a lot of money these days since my wife passed away. But I'm blessed to have a lot of rich remembrances and an active mind so I can still appreciate what happens in our fair city and cheer on our young men in Williamsport."
Clark joins a group of people and businesses who rallied to collect more than $60,000 to send the boys to the tournament, including Nucci's Italian Cafe & Pizza restaurant, which held a fund-raiser for the team, the financially strapped American Vista Little League, which donated $1,000 to the RBV team, and children collecting small donations from Vista neighborhoods, to name a few.
And, in my heart I have a special spot for this team because a decade ago, I umpired Vista National Little League games and the inaugural season for RBV when its games were played at Breeze Hill and totally enjoyed that experience in Vista.
NO WORD FROM IRAQ —— Today marks the 14th day since my wife and I last heard from our son in Iraq. I've had dozens of inquiries from readers asking about his status. I assume he's too busy as an infantryman to call home during the severe summer heat of that central Asia desert area. We're standing by to stand by.
J. Stryker Meyer can be reached at (760) 901-4089.
