Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here!

Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here!

June 4, 2009 - As regular readers know, I don't usually post on Thursday's, but last night's events deserve a post of their own. Over 60 Rebel fans gathered late on a warm afternoon in the Rebel Park pavilions for the annual Meet the Rebels picnic and scrimmage with the New Market Shockers. Thunderstorms were in the forecast and indeed, thunder rumbled in the distance and the western skies darkened as folks wound their way through the food line. We could see it raining out on I-81 and then it started pouring where we were. For about 3 minutes. Then it started to hail. And hail. And hail. For 15 minutes quarter to golf ball size hail pounded Rebel Park blowing into the pavilion and soaking everything. The noise from the hail hitting the metal roof of the pavilion was so deafening that no one could hear the person next to him.

Mayor Larry Smith and his wife actually had cuts on their legs from the blowing, bouncing hail. Players who had run to the dugout to rescue equipment became trapped there and quickly donned batting helmets for protection. We all huddled in the middle of the pavilion, "just like cows!" as Kay Helsley noted.

Melissa Dodge, a faithful contributor to this blog, had presence of mind to take photographs which appear below.

Once the hail stopped and it was merely pouring, Head Coach Lucas Jones called to me, saying, "I guess you've got a good opening chapter now!" Assistant Corey Paluga wanted to know if I had taken notes, but I assured him that I didn't need to--I'd never forget what I just saw!

Needless to say, the party broke up early. As people made their way through the rain to their leaf-strewn cars, Dave Beaver called out, "We still have some cake left, but it's sponge cake."

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Used with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. - From Baseball, Life, and Other Stuff by Austin Gisriel

Here's a video of the beginning of the storm posted by Anna Kipps:

These photos were taken by Melissa Dodge:

The outfield was white with hail.

The hail was so vicious that it actually cut up a full can of Coke which had been left in a cooler outside the pavilion!
The Rebels Team bus is covered with leaves knocked off the trees by the hail.

Hail piled up outside the reserved seats.

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