Story Photos
 Elden "Butch" Alexander shows off one of the autographed baseballs up for bids at Saturday's Lumberyard benefit auction. Roger Werth / The Daily News
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Lumberyard of Dreams: RAL boosters plan auction to benefit field
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:35 AM PDT
By Rick S. Alvord
Printable version
E-mail this articleElden "Butch" Alexander knows people.
How else could a guy in Longview, who bleeds R.A. Long Lumberjack red, end up with 170 Dodger-blue stadium seats?
And, yes, we're talking the unmistakable blue of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"Not Kelso blue," Alexander said with a grin.
Although the stadium seats - direct from Dodger Stadium - are quite the conversation piece, Alexander does have a plan for them. They're part of an energetic, multi-pronged remodeling project at the R.A. Long Lumberyard, home of the school's baseball team, which is hoping to receive a financial shot in the arm from a spaghetti dinner and auction Saturday at Monticello Middle School.
Dinner is at 6 p.m., followed by the auction at 6:45. Cost is $10 for both, but Alexander said anyone interested in attending only the auction won't have to pay for dinner. A raffle and silent auction also will be held.
The extensive list of auction items includes: autographed baseballs from Jamie Moyer, Ken Griffey Jr., Dusty Baker, Ryan Howard, 2007 National League MVP Jimmy Rollins and 1998 World Series MVP Scott Brosius, among others; autographed bats from former Mariners Dave Henderson and Rick Sweet; a Jon Kitna autographed football; tickets to the Washington-Oklahoma football game this fall, Seahawks preseason tickets, and two premier tickets to the Blazers-Wizards NBA game on March 25; and countless dinners, jerseys and bobbleheads.
A $340 teeth whitening also was donated for the auction, along with a unit of lumber, three yards of any soil product and a homemade Mariners blanket, courtesy of Alexander's wife, Pam.
"And we'll also be auctioning one of the Dodger Stadium seats," Alexander said. "A great collector's item."
A road map is required to determine how the seats ended up in Longview.
"My son, John, played baseball at Chapman University in Southern California, and one of the teams they played was Cal Lutheran. I have a friend whose son played for Cal Lutheran, and they had all these seats from Dodger Stadium (after the Dodgers renovated)," Alexander explained.
"They had plenty left over, and he said they were ours if we came down and picked them up," he added. "Darin Dollemore (R.A. Long assistant athletic director and wrestling coach) and another guy drove a truck down there overnight and hauled them home. And now we want to make them part of the Lumberyard."
But before that happens, the group must purchase the proper brackets so the seats can be installed. Alexander has located some used brackets in Indiana for $5,700.
In addition to paying for the seating, the auction also will help with the completion of the new concession stand/press box, new batting cage and dugouts. Additional black-topping also is needed around the complex.
Alexander said the batting cage plans were drawn up free of charge by architect Craig Collins, and carpenter Josh Wright donated labor. The metal was donated by Steelscape, the lumber by RSG Forest Products and the concrete work by Buddy Oliver.
"There are some great people helping out on this," Alexander said. "To finish everything, we need probably between $8,000 and $10,000. The auction, we're hoping, will help get us going."
Alexander said he and former RAL baseball coach Rich Reeves "had a dream" to build a new batting cage at the Lumberyard in 2001.
They scheduled a meeting to discuss their plan. No one showed up.
"Then Rich left (to become a principal in Vancouver). But I still had a vision for the place," Alexander said. "It's going to be a very nice facility when we're done."
As for rounding up enough quality auction items for Saturday's event? It wasn't that difficult.
"Rick Sweet (1971 Mark Morris graduate who played four seasons in the major leagues) is in the Cincinnati Reds organization (manager of the Class AAA Louisville Bats), and he said when he was at spring training that he'd see if he could get some baseballs signed. And he did," Alexander said. "And (RAL head baseball coach) Jason Castro knows somebody in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, so that's why we've got Rollins and Howard and a bunch of other guys.
"The Kitna football was something I had, and a lot of the other stuff was donated by a lot of generous people," he added. "The local baseball family is wonderful. This area has a great tradition when it comes to baseball, and a lot of people want to see us succeed and get this done."
former mm ballplayer wrote on Mar 12, 2008 10:53 AM:
Patty wrote on Mar 12, 2008 12:05 PM:
See ya Saturday! :-) "
good luck Booster Club wrote on Mar 12, 2008 12:25 PM:
unbelievable wrote on Mar 12, 2008 1:28 PM:
Ex-Jack wrote on Mar 12, 2008 1:50 PM:
alexander wrote on Mar 12, 2008 2:09 PM:
RA Long bullpen Club
%Elden Alexander
2549 Terry Ave.
Longview, WA. 98632
It is great to see previous players wanting to donate.
Thanks "
Great project wrote on Mar 12, 2008 2:40 PM:
nexus wrote on Mar 12, 2008 4:00 PM:
alexander wrote on Mar 12, 2008 8:44 PM:
The $1000 is not a usage fee. We had hoped we could have people donate the food and we were only suppose to have to pay one cook her hourly rate. but the kitchen staff was hard to deal with. They wanted $4 per head to provide the meal. Then we have to pay them $200 to make it and serve. So it wasn't any one in administrative that caused us a problem. Since we had already printed the tickets, we were stuck. WE felt we could do better by getting the food donated, but it was a very difficult situation dealig with the kitchen staff. so it was easier just to let them do it than trying to deal with them. I wish we didn't have to pay the $1200 but we do. Now if any one would like to donate money to help offset these costs, it would be appreciated. Because this $1200 takes away from monies we could use. "
Dodger fan wrote on Mar 13, 2008 4:50 AM:
Dodger fan wrote on Mar 13, 2008 4:53 AM:
Lets just make the best of it wrote on Mar 13, 2008 9:23 AM:
Can't change things, but we can enjoy what we have going.
I hope there is a huge turnout! I will there! I hope the Spaghetti is better then a normal school lunch! :p "
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