Not Mayberry, but close

It was quite impressive, this parade I chose to attend. A black police car, with sirens blaring and blue lights flashing, led the way, followed by a large, red fire truck, also sounding out for the community to hear, as its red lights flashed. A grand marshal (a city councilman, I was told) waved from the back seat of a red convertible. A rather large group of cheering spectators greeted the marchers and participants as the parade wound its way down Main Street, closed to all traffic for this special event.

It wasn't Christmas, Thanksgiving, or the 4th of July and there were no bands, horses, clowns, or majorettes. The location wasn't New York, Los Angeles, or Atlanta. Where it was, was a tiny town named Senoia. It was opening day for the Senoia Area Little League and the entire town of Senoia was closed so that hundreds of baseball and softball players, ranging in age from 3 to 15, could put on their uniforms, present their team banners, and walk together through the town prior to the opening ceremonies at the local baseball fields, followed by the first games of the season.

"What a wonderful gesture," I thought, "for this town to totally rally behind these kids who are playing for the sheer fun and love of the sport."

Senoia is not a large town. Some people have compared the hamlet to TV's fictitious Mayberry, the abode of Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife. I can imagine that such a parade as I witnessed recently could occur in Mayberry. I can see the shopkeepers of Mayberry standing outside their stores waving as the ball players proudly marched by. It is easy to imagine that Andy and Barney would be out encouraging the kids and leading the way with their patrol car. I can imagine Aunt Bea, the mayor of Mayberry, Floyd the barber, the firemen of the town, and the parents, grandparents and friends of the kids all participating.

In other words, I think of Mayberry as the type of place that baseball, tradition, and children are all important and all worth the effort of shutting down the town, closing Main Street, and having a parade. That's what happened in Senoia, and it was a wonderful thing to behold. I was one of those proud spectators who waved to the five grandchildren who are playing Pre-T Ball, or girls’ softball, or baseball. I also waved to three other kids from our church who were proudly wearing the uniforms of their teams. I also have two sons, a daughter-in-law and two other folks from the church who are serving as coaches or managers this year.

I attended two games that day, a Pre-T Ball game in the morning and a softball game at night. My five-year-old granddaughter, Jackie, got three hits in her first game of Pre-T Ball (everybody gets a hit in Pre-T ball) and actually ran to the right base all three times! She seemed to enjoy her first game even though she spent a fair amount of time sitting in the baseline between first and second base drawing in the dirt. They don't keep score in Pre-T ball, but we told her she won anyway. Some of the Senoia police officers attended the games, too, and were a big hit with the kids.

In the evening game, my ten-year-old granddaughter, Tori, took stock of the first pitch of the season and slammed out a home run. Her team really did win the game by a score of 12-7, which was much closer than the score indicates. Monday, I went to see the grandsons play for a while before church duties and the necessity of conducting premarital counseling forced me from the field.

Still, after several days have passed, I marvel at the lengths the people and the City of Senoia went to in order to make these kids feel that they and the game they play are important. Can anyone imagine that a Main Street would be shut down for children in Atlanta? Or even in Newnan or Peachtree City? But here, on a Saturday morning, in Senoia everything stopped for a while because the Little League Season was about to begin.

We like Mayberry, those of us that grew up on Andy and Barney. Mayberry is that mythical place where people are safe, where the town drunk (and there is only one) locks himself up and is never actually arrested, where people are friendly, and where important things,like children and baseball,matter. One can't get to Mayberry from here. But Senoia is just down the road.