Officials celebrate World Series success

The Christiansburg Recreation Department is pleased with the results of the 2010 Dixie Boys Baseball World Series and appears poised for a repeat."In my opinion it was highly successful," said Recreation Director Art Price.So much, in fact, the department plans to do it again in 2012."We learned some things so that we figured, in two years, we'll do it again," he said, and build on that success.

The recreation department has sent a letter of intent to host the 2012 Dixie Boys Junior World Series event, and officials expect to get the bid. Last month's World Series, held at the Harkrader Sports Complex, featured 12 baseball teams in the 13- to 14-year-old age group from 11 states in a double-elimination tournament.

As host, the Christiansburg team received an automatic invitation. The 11 other teams were determined by state championships in the 11 southeastern states: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. Price gave a presentation to the town council Tuesday, in which he outlined the financial report from hosting the event.The town spent approximately $41,000 in concessions, opening ceremonies, hotels, souvenirs and other expenses. It brought in about $39,000 from concessions, gate, souvenirs and donations. Overall, the event was a little more than $2,000 shy of breaking even.

Price discussed the tourism impact for the town based on standards outlined by the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Salem Parks and Recreation Department. Salem, Price said, is considered the local "model" for bringing in sporting events for economic impact. Based on these standards, direct spending is defined as any money that goes directly from a tourist's pocket into the local economy. The World Series brought approximately $213,000 in direct spending to Christiansburg, Price reported.Indirect spending is money spent by tourists that is re-spent within the local economy. The event brought about $427,000 in indirect spending to the town.

Price said more than $60,000 in permanent upgrades to Harkrader with Bermuda grass infields, foul ball netting and fencing and concrete floors for batting cages will make the complex ideal for hosting events in the future."It'll be there for our kids for years to come," he said. He described the event as a "labor of love," and said his department staff did a "phenomenal" job working tirelessly to coordinate and promote the event. Town council members think the hard work paid off because the event paints the town in a positive light to out-of-towners.

"It was certainly a welcome activity for our community. So many folks from outside of the community made comments about Christiansburg," said Mayor Richard Ballengee. Councilman Mike Barber said he heard comments describing Christiansburg's facilities as on par with and better than those found in bigger localities.