Councilman holds special trophy presentation

LAUREL HILL — Laurel Hill councilman Johnny James held a brief special trophy presentation for the children of two different military fathers last Saturday.

Franky Gonzales and Levi Baril are both in the Army. During their most recent stint at home, the men tackled another field: the baseball diamond.

Gonzales and Baril, who live in Niceville, have children who play T-ball for the city of Laurel Hill. While they have been home for the last three months, they have helped James with the team.

“I’m glad they came up my way,” James said.

James is working on trying to get the T-ball program in the city back up and running. The program only has eight players, but the children still get to play one another.

Gonzales and Baril have been very helpful during the season, according to James.

“They help warm up the kids before the games and do some other stuff for me,” said James.

Both men are set to ship out before the end of the season party, but James wanted to make sure they got to see their children receive trophies.

James held a brief trophy presentation prior to a game last week especially for the families of the two Army men.

“They helped me with the T-ball program and I needed to show my appreciation to them,” James said. “I just told them that I appreciate what they’ve done and thanked them for helping with the program.”

James said the rest of players and helpers would receive their trophies at another award party in a few weeks.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Councilman holds special trophy presentation