Letters

Featured Letter: Bring an osprey home this summer

GARRETT MEADE FILE PHOTO | The North Fork Ospreys players need a place to stay this summer.
GARRETT MEADE FILE PHOTO | The North Fork Ospreys players need a place to stay this summer.

To the editor:

I’m so excited that I saw one of my first ospreys of the season.

That means we are really close to the return of the North Fork Osprey collegiate baseball team. They’re one of seven teams in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League that play here on the East End.

This will be the third year our family will host one of the players. These college baseball players come from all over to hone their baseball skills and get a chance to be spotted by a Major League scout.

These past two summers have been a lot of fun for the four of us. In our first year our 6-foot, 8-inch pitcher came from Iowa and had the time of his life and we still keep in contact with him and his parents. James Kohler loved to fish and learned a whole new vocabulary living with us as he had only ever fished in fresh water. We made it a point to help him discover salt water fishing as well as the shellfish. Too bad he wasn’t around for scallop season.

James is still playing for his college baseball team and holds the highest GPA on his team at the University of Evansville. He majors in biology and will go pre-med.

Last year we hosted Mark Brennan, who attended Marist College on a full academic scholarship. His shellfish allergy kept us from encouraging salt water activities, except for tubing and fishing or just hanging out at the beach.

He was on his feet with the mention of strawberry picking. When he left in August, my son was able to add catcher to the list of positions he was able to play. Mark bonded quickly with us and the kids keep in touch with him on social media.

We are so looking forward to seeing who will be living this summer in our spare bedroom, now known as the “Ospreys” room.

We are in need of a few more Osprey host families. If you think you can host a player, please call 734-7167.

Janet, Ken, Julie and Sam Dickerson, Cutchogue

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