Ben Batted 1,000

Published in Senior Digest on July 2004

Played on April 18, 1981, and June 23, 1981, Major League Baseball’s longest game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings lasted for more than eight hours and 33 minutes.

Owner Ben Mondor’s watches over his bellowed Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple-A International League affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, has stretched over 28 years, totaling more than 36,288 innings.

For baseball trivia buffs, both statistics are worthy of the history books.  Throughout his long career that began in 1977, Pawtucket baseball icon has accumulated 57 large scrap books crammed with newspaper clippings noting his achievements

Mondor, now age 79, admits that he didn’t have the necessary skills to play on a high school team, but his contributions as owner of the Pawtucket Red Sox to the City of Pawtucket, the state of Rhode Island and to the fans are legendary.

Some of the articles in Mondor’s scrapbooks note many, prominent awards he has received over the years. Among them, is the prestigious 2002 award from the Association of Fund-Raising Professionals, which recognized the Triple-A clubs as Rhode Island’s Outstanding Philanthropic Business. For his outstanding community service, he received the 2001 Hope Award from the Rhode Island State Council Knights of Columbus and the Pawtucket 2004 Foundation’s Heritage Award.

Over the years Mondor has also been recognized by peers for his exceptional and significant contributions to America’s favorite pastime. The Paw Sox owner and former Boston Red Sox CEO John Harrington are the only two non-uniformed members of the Red Sox to earn the BoSox Booster Club’s Man of the Year Award.  Meanwhile, Mondor took home the National Association of Professional Baseball League’s” John H. Johnson  President’s Trophy” in 1990.  Under Mondor’s watch, the Pawtucket Triple-A Club was also selected by Baseball America as the top Triple-A operation receiving the 1990 and 2003 Bob Freitas Award, only one of the three minor league franchises to receive that coveted award twice.

Last month, Ben Mondor Day was held at Fenway Park in Boston, Mondor says that the one-hour ceremony recognized the financial stability of his organization and the high caliber of his players. During his tenure, more than 422 ballplayers have completed stints in Pawtucket before joining American League or National League teams.

On a recent day, Mondor is sitting in his spacious office at a long conference table with his back to a huge rectangular window that gives him a magnificent view of the McCoy Stadium diamond.  Dozens of autographed baseballs in their plastic protective cases line the window ledge.

“Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens signed balls,” Mondor noted, pointing to the keepsakes that hold memories of ballplayers’ visits to his office.  Adding to the ambiance, are three walls of photographs of Pawtucket Red Sox players, and scenes of McCoy Stadium. “It’s quite a place filled with heart-felt mementos,” he says.

Prominently placed on wall are photographs of 12 special supporters of Mondor’s. All of them are deceased, he reveals. “It’s scary to be the last one left,” he says.

“These are the people who got me interested in baseball and gave me a big hand when I took over the Pawtucket Red Sox in 1977,Mondor explains. Pointing to a photograph of the late Chet Nichols, a baker for former Hospital Trust, Mondor says, “He urged me to keep the team in Pawtucket.”

Looking at a photograph l of the late Ted Mulcahey, a sports editor for the Pawtucket Times, Mondor recalls the encouragement and guidance the newspaperman offered during his efforts to purchase the team and in his early day of ownership.

Mondor’s thirst for knowledge would lead him from Brown University, to the University of Rhode Island to Bryant College, where he “studied what he wanted to study.” Although he never graduated from college, he became a self-taught engineer, sharpening his craft by working in the mills of Woonsocket.

In a career shift lasting 18 years, Mondor would learn the trade of buying bankrupt businesses and restoring them to resell for a profit.  In a move that would change his life, Mondor took over the bankrupt Pawtucket Red Sox in 1976. At the time, he was retired and living in Lincoln.

Mondor says that the Pawtucket franchise could have been lost if he had not taken it over. “No Triple-A team could have come into Pawtucket because of the size of the city’s population and size of the stadium,” he says.

Thirty years ago, before Mondor purchased the franchise, he admits to be woefully uninformed about Pawtucket.  Today, he sees the city as a symbol of all the old mill cities in New England, successfully changing to survive. “We’re glad that we have become an institution for this city,” he says.

Speaking of Mondor, Pawtucket Mayor James E. Doyle says the team owner has been the unofficial ambassador for both baseball and the city.

Mondor’s fondest memory of his long career was during the 1999 season when McCoy Stadium underwent, a $16-million renovation and expansion.  After the renovations, the smallest of all Triple-A stadiums met the requirements of the Professional Baseball Association (PBA) with Disabilities Act.  One of the PBA’s criteria concerns seating capacity, and McCoy went from 6,000 to more than 10,000.

Along with more seats, the project entailed a new grandstand with an entry tower, a new playing field, an expanded main concourse with additional restrooms and concession stands, a new video board and a new scoreboard.

During Mondor’s first year as the owner of the Pawtucket Red Sox, only 70,000 fans came to watch the pennant-winning ball club.  During 2001, season in a renovated McCoy Stadium, however, attendance hit a franchise record of 647,928 fans – the first time the club drew more than 600,00 people.

Mondor is also proud of the upcoming Triple-A All-Star Game that will be held in Pawtucket this month. “It is usually a one-day affair, but we are planning to expand it to three days,” he said proudly, noting that no other Triple-A-Club in his memory has ever rolled out the red carpet like the Pawtucket Red Sox.

According to Mondor, in the 20 years of Triple-A clubs sponsoring this event, this is the first time ever that additional days were added to include festivities.

Retiring at the end of the 2004 season, Mondor has not regrets. “It’s been a long road and God’s been good to me,” he quips.

Poor health keeps Mondor from traveling with Madeline, his wife of 47 years.  However, he will continue to collect Russian artwork, visit museums detain the history of nations. An avid reader, the outgoing owner says he has more than 5,000 books in his study.

“By reading about the people who were instrumental in creating nations, in biographies and autobiographies, you might be surprised you can learn,” Mondor points out. “You can learn what they were thinking and why they acted in certain ways.”

If someone was to write his biography, Mondor would want readers to know that as the long-time Pawtucket Red Sox owner, he considers himself to be the luckiest man in the world. Additionally, he would want to get the message out about the importance of working. “Go to work. There is no substitute for work, and it will ultimately lead to your success,” he says.

Mondor says the secret of the franchise’s success under his rein is simple. “our philosophy was always to make McCoy Stadium an affordable, family-oriented place,” he says.  In the last 28 years, the rice of general admission tickets has remained at $4, and the cost of better seats has gone up from $7 to $9.

When asked about becoming a baseball icon in the Ocean State, Mondor attributed his well-recognized success to being surrounded by “the best people in baseball.” Rattling off a list of names l- Mike Tamburro, Lou Schwecheimer, Bill Wanless, Michael Gwyon and Mike Tedesco- along with 20 others in his administrative offices, Mondor knows he’s got a “well-oiled machine that actually runs by itself.”

“They make me look so good,” he says. Tamburro, the first employee that Mondor hired, will take over the reins at the end of the 2004 season. “He’s like my surrogate son.  We   work the same way and also have the same philosophies,” Mondor said.

Tamburro, who is President of the franchise agrees. “It’s been an honor to work side-by-side with Ben for the past 28 years. We shared dreams, a work ethic and a strong belief in our wonderful Pawtucket community.”

“Its my hope that the Paw Sox will always continue to uphold Ben’s idea of ting baseball  with family entertainment,” Tamburro says.

PawSox Fans Love Their Team and Its Owner

Published in Senior Digest on July 2004

Seventy-six-year-old Al Beaulieu worked as a manager at Standard Bolt in Cumberland for more than 30 years. He’s been a baseball fan longer than 30 years. He’s been a baseball fan longer than that, however, attending games at McCoy Stadium since the mid-1940s.

After retiring in 1991, the Lincoln resident and wife, Carolyn, 81, became Pawtucket red Sox ticket holders. During the first three and one-half years of attending local games way back when Beaulieu says he probably missed just a few match-ups. Over his 13 years of having season tickets, Beaulieu says that he’s probably missed upward to 30 games. “It’s due to a total knew replacement,” he points out, not because of a waning interest in the sport he loves.

Over the years, in addition to attending games at McCoy Stadium this Pawtucket Red Sox fan has traveled to Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y., and Scranton, Pa., to follow his team.

While Beaulieu’s loyalties lie with the Pawtucket Red Sox, he’s backed off from the Boston Red Sox. “I used to be a great Boston fan, but they broke my heart to many times. Now, I root for whatever time is in first place,” he quips.

When asked about the legacy of PawSox, owner Ben Mondor, the man who brought Triple-A baseball to Pawtucket and put the city on the map, Beaulieu responds, “The guy is an outstanding gentleman. He took a club down in the dumps and turned it into one of the top teams in the nation.”

As to the his favorite games, Beaulieu quickly talks about the time he watched Tomo Ohka pitch a no-hit shutout at McCoy on June 1, 2000. “He’s now a   starting pitcher for the Montreal Expos,” Beaulieu said.

Branson Arroyo, who now plays for the Boston Red Sox, also pitched a perfect game at McCoy.  According to the team’s media guide, the statistical bible for Beaulieu, on Aug. 10, 2003, Arroyo pitched the fourth perfect nine-inning game in the 128-year history of the International League when he beat Buffalo, 7-0.

Over the years, Michael Pappas, the former executive director of the Pawtucket Boys and Girls Club, will tell you that “Ben Mondo always did everything first class.”

Pappas, 78, who served as the public address announcer at local Pawtucket Rd Sox games in the mid-1960s and mid-1970s, remarked how Mondor “rolled out the red carpet for his fans, making McCoy Stadium family-oriented and keeping ticket prices affordable.”

Mondor’s legacy will be his community out-reach, especially to nonprofit groups, Pappas says.  According to Pappas, Mondor has supported the Boys & Girls Club for years.  That support has included sponsoring a trip to the World Series for two lucky participants in the club’s baseball program.

Ray Dalton, 79, worked for the East Providence-based Getty Oil CO. for 42 years. Residing in the Darlington section of the city for 78 years, Dalton attended baseball games at age 5 at the old Pawtucket High School field.

He played baseball in junior high school and in the Pawtucket Boys Club Summer League. With his father loving the game, Dalton caught the bug, too. Since the early ‘40s, Dalton traveled to McCoy Stadium to watch baseball and has been a season ticket holder for about 20 years.  Before that, he bought blocks of 50 tickets for the season to get the best seats available. At the beginning of each season, he would determine which games he wanted to see.

Over the years, Dalton and his son Ron, 43, have made friends with several players who were on the PawSox’s roster.

“And when they returned as members of opposing teams, we always go out of our way to welcome them back to McCoy stadium,” the elder Dalton said.

“I’ve known Ben Mondor and Michael Tamburro ever since they came on board,” Dalton said. “They are No. 1 in my book because they run the team as a family organization and have kept the prices affordable.”

Dalton said ballplayers have told him that if you can’t play in the American or National leagues, McCoy is the next best place to play. “It’s because of the way Ben and Michael treat them when they are at McCoy stadium,” Dalton said.

Dalton was at McCoy on April 18, 1981, for the start of Major League Baseball’s longest game and he watched it end when it resumed a couple of months later on June 23. While this is one of his most memorable games, Dalton likes every game he attends. “It’s the best entertainment in the state because they keep the prices affordable and create a family atmosphere. This is the philosophy of the Pawtucket Red Sox Family,” he says.

Nine of the 15 seats in the row where Dalton sits are taken by his sone, granddaughters, sister, brother-in-law and nephews. “It is really a family affair for us,” he said.

Bridging Generations: Travel Can Bring You Closer to Your Grandchildren

Published in Senior Digest on May 2004

Once upon a time, seniors interests, hobbies or life experiences were major factors in choosing where to go on vacation.

Today, however, the type of households in which their children live is another element influencing vacation plans for active seniors.

Single parents and partners of two-income households, of which there are a growing number can find it difficult to take time off from work. So their parents often step up to the plate and take the kids in the household on vacation. Trips are merging generational lifestyles, giving grandparents and grandchildren time to get to know each other a little bit better.

According to a soon to be released Travel Industry Association study, a growing number of seniors are now traveling with their grandchildren, which also strengthens intergenerational bonds and relationships.

The national travey study found that 17 percent of the estimated 93.2 million adults who took family trips in 2003, included grandchildren on those excursions, says Brian Kightlinger, director of Meredith Travel Marketing. The year before only 9 percent of the traveling adults brought along their grandchildren, he said.

Discretionary income combined with grandparents wanting to spend quality time with the youngsters are fueling the demand for intergenerational travel, says Kightlinger.

“With two parents working, grandparents are taking on a more active role with vacations,” he says.

Even the American Automobile Association’s (AAA) recognition of the emerging intergeneratioal travel niche was clear to see when the nation’s most widely recognized travel club launched its Ready, Set Travel! series.

When Helena Koenig became a grandmother 18 years ago, she created Grandtravel at her Chevy Chase, Md. travel agency to plan itineraries for seniors and their grandchildren. The travel agent combined 34 years of working in the industry with her new experience of being a grandparent.

Koenig says that Grandtravel’s goal is to “help grandparents create lasting memories for themselves and their grandchildren.” To encourage this bonding, no moms or dads are allowed on any of the 24 domestic or international trips, usually scheduled during Christmas and summer school breaks. When Koenig established Grandtravel in 1986, she offered three trips.

Banning parents from Grandtravel trips allows the oldest and youngest generations to get to know each other better. Koenig notes, adding that travel is a gr eat way for grandparents to transmit a “cultural inheritance” to their grandchildren.

Today, Grandtravel’s domestic offerings include the Grand Canyon, Alaska, Western Parks, New York and Dinosaur DIscovery. International offerings include trips to England, Ireland and Scotland, Italy, Australia, Southern Africa.

France, Peru, Kenya and Austria “Grandtravelers” can even take a Transatlantic passage on the Queen Mary 2 to London and Paris or to Ireland, Scotland and England.

Grandtravel trips can last from seven days to two weeks, costing from $ 3,000 to $ 8,000 per person.

For travelers who want to get to know their grandchildren better, only groups of 20 are booked on the company’s worldwide intinerary, says Koenig. These trips accommodate children of similar ages whenever possible.

Other companies are following Grandtravel’s lead. Disney Cruise Lines is placing a greater importance on appealing to multigenerational travel, says Christi Erwin, a spokesperson for the Port Canaveral Fla. company. “More than half of our guests now travel in multigenerational groups, says Erwin.

Responding to customer suggestions, Disney Cruise Lines has created several new areas to accommodate the interest of different ages within the teen and adult groups, says Erwin. The Stack is a new area for teens located in the ship’s forward (faux) funnel atop Deck 11, and on board programming is designed for specific age groups.

Erwin says at Studio C, considered to be the hub for family entertainment, grandparents and their grandchildren can attend dance parties and participate in sing-alongs and trivia-based games.

Day or night, the intergenerational travelers can even see first-run movies in the Buena Vista Theatre, says Erwin, who adds that the recently released Home on the Range just premiered at the theater.

At the larger Walt Disney theater, both old young can watch Disney movies, too, but also can attend special afternoon matinees of stage shows.

A daily schedule of events is delivered to every stateroom. “This type of programming gives grandparents more flexibility to plan the type of activities they want to participate in,” Erwin says.

Even with specific programming geared to children and family-centered activities, grandparent can slip away to recharge their batteries at the Quiet Cove pool, Cove Cafe lounge, Vista Spa and Salon or the Palo restaurant.

Costs for three-day ($ 409 per person), four day ($ 509 per person) and seven-day ( $ 829 per person) cruises included room meals and entertainment. Those prices exclude federal taxes and tips.

Established in 1975, Elderhostel, the nation’s first and the world’s largest, travel and educational organization for adults age 55 and over, views the world as it’s classroom. Each year, 200,000 seniors enrolled in over 10,000 programs offered by this nonprofit organizations in more than 100 countries.

Mary Harrington, Elderhostel administrator at the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, will be offering eight Elderhostel courses from July to October, two specifically designed for grandparents and grandchildren.

Harrington says participation in this program usually ranges from 25 to 45 seniors. Ten slots are put aside for local commuters who wish to attend the program but do not need hotel accommodations.

From Aug. 5-9, Kayaking, Biking and Hiking long the Blackstone River (four nights) allows physically active hostelers and “grandfriends” ages 11 to 14 to explore sections of the 46-mile river. With a naturalist and a historian on the hike, both old and young participants will earn more about the plants and creatures that inhibit riverbanks and local Algonquian history.

No kayaking experience is necessary, says Harrington, stressing that instruction and guidance will be provided. Kayaking, biking and hiking trips are two to three hours long and moderately paced. Bikes, helmets and easy access kayaks will be provided, she says.

Harrington promises that history will come alive in the Elderhostel course, History as a Great Story: Colorfully Told and Not Just for Kids (five nights). Designed for children ages 9 to 12, the course sheds light on Ocean State’s dazzling history. Field trips will take the participants to an 1870 lighthouse and early 19th century coastal fort in Newport. Children will enjoy riding an 1895 carousel at Slater Park and even learn a little bit about the Industrial Revolution that started at Slater Mill in Pawtucket.