Eagle Scout candidate honors Townshend baseball leader

TOWNSHEND — Standing proud at the edge of Townshend’s baseball field, community collaboration on a refurbished snack shack serves as a reminder of a local legacy.

Bruce Cutts was a longtime resident of the area who made sure to stay involved with baseball as much as possible until his death in late 2017. His son Mike, still a resident of Townshend, said he remembers his father being instrumental to the founding of the local Little League, then serving as a coach for many years and, after retiring, as an umpire.

“Everybody got to play, one way or another,” Mike Cutts said. “Whether you were any good or not, whether baseball was your sport or not, everybody got to play, and it was about having fun.”

Mike and his brothers all played baseball while their father was still coaching, and the family tradition did not stop there.

“I coached all four of my kids,” Mike Cutts said. “I just kind of aged out of it now, and pretty soon my grandson will be involved in some way.”

Bruce’s name is now visible on a plaque mounted at the front of the ballfield’s snack shack, thanks to a refurbishment led by Eagle Scout hopeful Ronan Foley, a senior at Townshend’s Leland & Gray High School, as his final project to achieve the highest badge that Scouting America has to offer. Foley said he was inspired to make the dedication to Bruce Cutts by a conversation with Town Clerk Ellenka Wilson.

Wilson said she remembers Bruce Cutts as a commissioner when she played baseball and later as an ump who supported the program when her son played.

“[Cutts] was always really gracious,” Wilson said. “Whenever the kids needed help, he’d stop everything and take the time to work with them. He was always teaching, even when he didn’t have to.”

Foley initially set out only to give the snack shack an updated paint job, but once he observed the shack, which has been out of use for some time, he noticed some more structural maintenance that needed to be done. He described some of the boards on the side as having been in “dire shape.”

That’s when Foley approached Rob Symonds, manager of the Newfane location of WW Building Supply. Symonds said WW decided to donate the needed supplies as a way of giving back to the community.

“The family that owns the company right now all went to Leland & Gray,” Symonds said. “It's part of what they grew up in, so helping to fix or repair things like that just means a lot.”

The refurbishment project took about a week to complete. Foley, a soccer player, said he spent a lot of time on the ballfield as a kid before the soccer program moved locations.

“It's nice being able to get back to a field I spent so much of my elementary school time in,” Foley said.

He said he hopes the new and improved snack shack will be a positive change for the next baseball season.

“It helps out a lot to have it actually look good for the games in the elementary school,” Foley said.

Mike Cutts said he has sometimes felt sad about the baseball program, which he described as having “tapered off” in more recent years.

“It's still alive and well, I guess, as far as I can tell,” Cutts said. “Maybe not to the same vigor as it once was, but things have changed since 1980-something.”

He said some of those changes may include the rising popularity of other sports like soccer and basketball.

“There’s other stuff more available than when I was a kid,” Cutts said.

Cutts said he remembers the snack shack being opened up and used for fundraisers in the past. He also said his grandmother used to be the one to run the shack during the season.

“That’s what it needs,” Cutts said. “Somebody who's semi-retired or retired and wants to do that kind of thing and then get some kids involved, show them the ropes, show them how it's done.”

Cutts said although it may be a while since it was last open, he was glad to see the old snack shack repaired.

“Any improvement is good,” Cutts said. “I’m glad to see [Foley] doing some cleaning, fixing things up. That’s a nice thing.”