How and to what extent did the PHY impact the community?
A San Antonio Express News article dated June 15, 1969, announces the annual Little League Picnic that was being held at Pablo’s Grove (now called Camargo Park), a park in the West Side of San Antonio. The event was to include delicious barbeque, and a variety of entertainment activities such as games, prize-drawings, music, dancing, and a softball tournament.
For families who did not have much money to spend I imagine this was an ideal event for families to attend because it was free admission, a safe, fun, family environment, and an all day affair on a Sunday afternoon. The purpose of the picnic was to help raise money to support the youth of the West Side community of San Antonio. In my interview with Jerry Guevara, he recalls the fond memories of this event in addition to “Field Day”, an annual event held on a Saturday where parents would form teams with the players and compete against each other while enjoying a “cookout.” Jerry would go on to say the experience of playing with the PHY was “the best years of my life.”
My grandfather, Reynaldo Nerio Sr. is 94 years old and graduated from St. Mary’s University in 1950 with a degree in Sociology. He worked as a San Antonio police department detective, specifically in the juvenile department. He worked long hours, late nights, and rarely had free time in an effort to support and provide for his family. My grandfather married my grandmother very young but understood the importance of education, hard work, and family. Therefore, when he and my grandmother were raising their six kids (including my father and uncle), he felt it necessary and important to get them involved with the PHY. When conducting my interview with him, he recalls driving by the baseball field while on-duty and watching my father and uncle play while he listened to the police radio in case the dispatcher called him.