On May 27, the East Metro Miracle League (EMML) held its season kickoff event at the M Health Fairview Sports Center. The EMML gives children with special needs the opportunity to participate in a summer softball league with teams and matchups throughout the season.

The league, which is run by the City of Woodbury with significant support from local organizations such as the Woodbury Rotary Club, has grown from 40 players to 170 since its beginning and continues to draw more interest each summer.

“We started the kickoff event on the 10th anniversary of the league in 2022, so this year was our fifth year,” said Woodbury Rotary Club President-Elect Ruth Watkins. “The culmination of the season is exciting for the kids, and the families appreciate the party atmosphere and the baseball meal that is provided by Rotary… This year, the Woodbury Community Foundation, Highland Bank, Brain Balance, Skoolie with SoWashCo Cares, Scout Troop 196, the Stillwater Ponies, Family Achievement Center, city administrators and staff came together with the Rotarians to make the event successful.”

The Woodbury Rotary Club is also the reason the Woodbury Rotary Miracle Field, where the EMML plays its regular-season games, was built in the first place.

“The Woodbury Rotary Club first developed interest in 2007 when a club member returned from vacation and informed us about a special needs field she saw in another city, saying it was called a Miracle Field. After describing the field and its requirement to be located near other baseball fields, club members voted to approach the City of Woodbury with the idea of building one,” said Alan Henaman, Woodbury Rotary Club public image co-chair.

Together, the City of Woodbury and the Woodbury Rotary Club started the city’s adaptive recreation program.

It took five years to raise the funds needed to build the Woodbury Rotary Miracle Field, but the Woodbury Rotary Club persisted through the 2008 recession and beyond, raising more than $250,000 for the project by 2012. The City of Woodbury took over from there, and the first game was played June 7 of that year.

When asked about the future of the Woodbury Rotary Miracle Field and the club’s continued involvement, Watkins said, “As the city sees needs for maintenance or improvements at the field, Rotary will be there to help fund such… we are in it for the long haul.”

A major improvement to the field was completed this year with the addition of a much-needed shade structure and other amenities.

“The project included the shade structure over the bleachers, a shade structure for the sunny dugout, three ADA-compliant picnic tables with umbrellas and an updated sign,” Watkins said.

A Woodbury Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony for the project is scheduled for June 9 at 5 p.m. Anyone interested is welcome to attend, see the updated field and learn more about the league.