Mayor Jimmy Davis announced that the athletes of Bayonne’s Buddy Baseball will have an opportunity to break a sports record.  They will join with other ballplayers in an attempt to break the official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS record for the Largest Game of Catch (baseball/softball).  This effort will require a minimum of 973 pairs – or 1,946 participants – playing catch simultaneously for five minutes.

How will it work?

On Sunday, September 21, the official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS attempt will take place in Yogi Berra Stadium in Montclair, New Jersey, with pairs organized on the ballfield and concourse in assigned positions, three meters (9’ 10”) apart from one another.  The stadium is named for the late Yogi Berra, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Berra was a star catcher for the New York Yankees and a manager for both the Yankees and the Mets.   He was a longtime Montclair resident.   

Athletes from Buddy Baseball will have an opportunity to play catch with their teammate or a Buddy, or they can be spectators for the event.

Pete Amadeo, Bayonne’s Superintendent of Recreation, stated, “We are very excited for this opportunity for our athletes to participate in a record-breaking event.  They will be part of something special, together, that will be in the record books!”

For anyone interested in being a Buddy for Buddy Baseball athletes, please contact Pete Amadeo at 201-858-6129 or email BAYONNEREC@AOL.COM.

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Donation to special needs sports: The Winning Events Group, which creates local health and wellness events, has donated $1,000 to the special needs sports programs sponsored by the Bayonne Recreation Division.   The donation will go towards the purchase of special needs sports equipment.  Pictured left to right: Bayonne Recreation Superintendent Pete Amadeo, Winning Events Group CEO Elvi Guzman, and Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis.

            Mayor Jimmy Davis announced that the Winning Events Group has donated $1,000 to the special needs sports program of the Bayonne Recreation Division.  The Winning Events Group, which is based in Hudson County, creates local events to support health and fitness programs in communities in Hudson County and New York City.  

            Elvi Guzman, the CEO of the Winning Events Group, said that the funds for the donation came from the Turkey Trot, a run in Gregg-Bayonne County Park on November 27, 2024.  He said that 378 runners took part in that event. 

            Mayor Davis and Pete Amadeo, Superintendent of the Bayonne Recreation Division, thanked the Winning Events Group for its contribution to the special needs program.   Superintendent Amadeo said that the donation would be used for special needs sports equipment.

            Founded in 2013, the Winning Events Group states on its website that it has donated over $800,000 to charity since it started. 

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Buddy Baseball group at City Council Meeting:  Bayonne Recreation Superintendent Pete Amadeo (at far right of photo) was joined by Buddy Baseball players and supporters at the Bayonne City Council meeting on August 14.  The Council awarded a contract for upgrades to the 11^th Street Oval, the location of Bayonne’s Buddy Baseball games.

          At its meeting on August 14, the Bayonne City Council awarded a $2.4 million contract for upgrades to the 11^th Street Oval, a playing field located on Avenue E.  The contractor with the successful bid is Picerno-Giordano of Kenilworth.  The project aims to create an appropriate facility for Buddy Baseball, a program for children with special needs.   The upgrades will include a new playing area, dugouts, bleachers, fencing, and handicap access to and from the field and playground.

Mayor Jimmy Davis said, “I am very excited that construction will start soon on transforming the 11th Street Field into a Field of Dreams for our great Buddy Baseball program.  I want to thank our Congressional representatives, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, the Hudson County Open Space Fund, and local developers for providing the funding for this $2.4 million project.  I look forward to the completion of this important facility for our special needs kids.”

At the Council meeting, Recreation Superintendent Pete Amadeo spoke to the Council Members about Buddy Baseball.  He thanked all of the levels of government that worked in partnership to fund the upgrades to the 11^th Street Oval.  Several of the Buddy Baseball players accompanied him at the meeting.  All of the City Council Members and several other Bayonne officials waved with foam fingers to show their support for Buddy Baseball.  City Planner Suzanne Mack stressed the importance of providing opportunities to special needs children, saying, “It changes their lives.”  Francesca Giarratana, Chair of the Hudson County Open Space Committee, represented the county at the meeting. 

The Buddy Baseball League, a program in Bayonne’s Recreation Division, began in 2015.  It is a program for Bayonne’s developmentally and physically challenged youth, helping them to enjoy the full benefits of baseball in an athletic environment structured to their abilities.  Buddy Baseball teaches the players baseball and softball, teamwork, sportsmanship, and fair play.  It also offers them the chance to socialize while strengthening their self-esteem. 

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The Bayonne Memorial Day Parade will take place on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023.  Last year, the City of Bayonne worked in conjunction with the veterans of the Memorial Day Parade Committee to bring the parade back after an absence of two years. Mayor Jimmy Davis said, “As the son of a proud Korean War veteran, I was very happy that we found a way to revive the parade in 2022.  I am glad to say that the successful collaboration between the veterans and the City of Bayonne has continued in 2023.”

Pete Amadeo, the Supervisor of the City of Bayonneâ€s Recreation Division, has worked with Barry Jones, the parade chairman, and the other veterans on the Memorial Day Parade Committee to invite various organizations to take part in the parade in both 2022 and 2023.   Mr. Jones is an Army veteran from the Vietnam era. 

There will be a ceremony at the traditional start of the parade on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, at 10:00 a.m., at Fifth Street by the World War I Monument.   Immediately after the ceremony, the march will begin at 5^th Street and will proceed up Broadway.   It will pass the reviewing stand in front of American Legion Post 19 and will end at 32^nd Street and Broadway. 

The grand marshal of the parade will be Carlton Rhodes.  In 1990, he served as President of Chapter 151 of the Vietnam Veterans of America. He has held the position of State Secretary-Treasurer of the Vietnam Veterans of America New Jersey State Council for 28 years.  Mr. Rhodes served as Commander of VFW Post 7470 from 1983 to 1984, and Quartermaster of VFW Post 7470 from 1984 to 1989.  He is the current Senior Vice Commander of VFW Post 7470.  His volunteer experience has included volunteering at the VA Lyons Hospital, the Chapel of Four Chaplains in Philadelphia, the Memorial Day Committee of Bayonne, and Faithful Navigator of the 4^th Degree Knights of Columbus. Mr. Rhodes is a member of the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Catholic War Veterans, the VFW, and the American Legion.  Mr. Rhodes trained as an aircraft mechanic and an electrician. He was employed as a Maintenance Supervisor for the U.S. Postal Service.

Mayor Davis stated, “From the American Revolution to the present, more than 42 million Americans have served in our military during war.  Of them, more than one million died in the service, whether in battle or elsewhere during wartime.”  Mayor Davis concluded, “Veterans often remind us that ‘freedom is not free.†That means that Americaâ€s fighting men and women have purchased our freedom with their sacrifices since 1775.  We owe our freedom and our way of life to them. Please show your gratitude for those who gave their lives for our country by coming to the memorial ceremonies and to the parade.”

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            On Saturday, January 28, the City of Bayonneâ€s Recreation Division held a ceremony to celebrate the $1 million federal grant it will receive to construct a ballfield for the Buddy Baseball program at 11^th Street and Avenue E.  Buddy Baseball, a popular activity for young people with special needs, was established in Bayonne seven years ago. 

The post Bayonne Holds Ceremony to Celebrate Federal Grant for Special Needs Ballfield  first appeared on River View Observer.

Bayonne Buddy Baseball kicked off it’s 5th year last Saturday (5/4/19) with an amazing turnout… 100 players, aged 3-21, all with Special Needs.

What was started five years ago by Pete Amadeo and Elisha DeMaria has become an entire community effort. NYC’s Mr. Met and the Somerset Patriots mascot Sparkee along with the Bayonne High School’s own Bee (Stingers Up!) were all there.

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