Former Host Family Coordinator
Chinooks VP/GM Dean Rennicke with Mark & Nancy Koehler |
Mequon, WI – “Our Northwoods League Championship doesn’t happen without the work of some amazing volunteers who have been the backbone of our organization during our first three years,” remarked Lakeshore Chinooks General Manager Dean Rennicke. And no aspect of the program is more vital than the corps of host families who generously open their homes and provide care and assistance to the forty collegiate baseball players who migrate to the North Shore each summer. Coordinating those efforts for the first three years has been Lorna Scholz. “Lorna was the glue in the Chinooks family,” says Manager of Operations Jon Cain. “She made the chaos of roster changes, with players coming and going, a smooth operation that most players and fans never realize. We are extremely thankful for her involvement.”
This year Lorna has passed the reins of the program to Mark and Nancy Koehler who have hosted Chinooks players for each of the past three summers, including Blake Butler of the College of Charleston and John Norwood from Vanderbilt. The Koehler’s have been actively involved in Grafton youth baseball and with the Grafton High School Booster Club, for which Mark currently serves as president. “We enjoyed being a Host Family, since we are a baseball family. It was an easy decision to host players. It’s a great opportunity to help and support a young man with dreams of making it in the big leagues. Many of the players come from well-known baseball programs hoping to get noticed while playing with the Chinooks. We treated our players like one of our own kids and still keep in contact with them,” says Mark.
John & Linda Walter with |
Mark and Nancy are looking forward to directing the program by finding suitable host situations and helping to place players in homes for the summer. “When the opportunity to be the Host Family Coordinators was presented to us, we felt it was an opportunity for us to help more players and the Chinooks on a larger scale. Now we have the opportunity to meet many more potential MLB players and have an impact on their lives,” says Mark. John Walter, who along with his wife Linda has hosted four players, agrees. “Being a host parent, you find yourself taking these ballplayers into your home and instantly they become part of your family. To date we are in touch with all four of our Chinooks ballplayers and always checking up on them to see how they are doing,” says Walter.
The Chinooks are still looking for Host Families for the coming summer. If you live within twenty minutes of Kapco Park, love baseball, and welcome the opportunity to support a young player chasing the dream of playing professional baseball, consider joining the Chinook Family Program. You can get started by filling out our Online Application.
