Feel-good story tops Bradenton.com's list

We had a pleasant surprise this morning in checking the online traffic for Bradenton.com. The top story on Sunday was extraordinarily atypical as traffic drivers go: It was the non-crime simple feel-good story announcing the winners of the Bradenton Herald's Easter egg hunt.

With the headline "Egg hunting pays off with trip to Disney," reporter January Holmes wrote about this year's winners. The smiling faces of 6-year-old Eric, 3-year-old Caitlynn and 2-year-old Chloe Beavers, and of 7-year-old Kali Kuntz will make your day.

The Beavers' mom, Christine, says they've entered for three years. If only you could bottle their healthy ecstacy in learning they were going to Disney. And Kali greeted her news by making sure we knew she plans to take her mom, dad and brother along.

We bent the "random winners" rule just a tad by adding a "most-creative bonus" this year for Destiny Wade's entry. Her egg carton is art with a heart.


-- Joan

Ghosts of Bradenton's field of dreams

So who were the Bradentown Growers?

Bradenton Herald columnist Vin Mannix has captured that piece of history in his story today. If you haven't read it yet, and you have that all-American love of baseball, you owe it to yourself to spend 10 minutes to walk through historic memories of the first minor league baseball team to call Bradenton home.

Today, the festivities have started as the Bradenton Marauders get ready for their first official game. The spirits of 90+ years at McKechnie are gathering with pride and nostalgia. We'll have full coverage later this evening and tomorrow -- photos, stories, columns and videos -- here at Bradenton.com and in the Herald.

Back to Vin's tale today. The favorite passages for this St. Louis Cardinals' diehard fan, and newspaper person to boot? Check out the true origins of McKechnie Field, revealed at about 30 inches into the story:

The Growers played at Ninth Street Park, where McKechnie Field was built four years later for the St. Louis Cardinals...

The atmosphere of a Growers’ opening day victory over Lakeland was captured in the April 12, 1923, Manatee River Journal by attorney Dewey A. Dye, who moonlighted as a sports writer:

“The gayety of the afternoon was contributed to by fair attendance, a concert by the Bradentown Band prior to its departure for the April Follies in Jacksonville, and splendid weather conditions. The park was bathed in sunlight and flooded with warmth of the variety that fills the soul of a ball team with delight.”

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?!

-- Joan

How to contact your state legislators

Florida clerks of circuit courts are warning that a proposed $23 million slash in their state funding will have dire effects on the judicial system, as outlined in today's story by East Manatee Editor Jim Jones.

Chips Shore, Manatee County clerk of circuit, wrote an impassioned letter to the Bradenton Herald, beseeching legislators to reconsider. He closed the letter asking the public to contact members of the Manatee County legislative delegation and express their concerns about the proposed cuts. Our story reported that -- but we didn't supply the contact numbers to make it easier for you. And several of our readers have pointed that out already this morning.

Here's their contact information (which often is published on the editorial page). And the list is attached to the story online now.

State legislators
Sen. Mike Bennett, 21st Senatorial District, Republican, (941) 727-6349; bennett.mike.web@flsenate.gov

Rep. Ron Reagan, District 67, Republican, (941) 727-6447, ron.reagan@myfloridahouse.gov

Rep. Bill Galvano, District 68, Republican, (941) 708-4968, bill.galvano@myfloridahouse.gov

Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, District 69, Democrat, (941) 955-8077, keith.fitzgerald@myfloridahouse.gov

Sen. Arthenia Joyner, 18th Senatorial District, Democrat, (813) 233-4277, joyner.arthenia.web@flsenate.gov

Sen. Nancy Detert, 23rd Senatorial District, Republican, (941) 480-3547, detert.nancy.web@flsenate.gov

Rep. Darryl Rouson, District 55, Democrat, (941)708-8570, darryl.rouson@myfloridahouse.gov

Census widget tracks your neighborhood

Stand up, sit down, lay down -- but be counted.

Politicos across the nation reminded us yesterday that it was "Census Day" -- and it sent me scrambling to find my form. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 54 percent of the nation's estimated 134 million households so far have mailed back their census forms for the 2010 count. That sounds encouraging, considering a good turnout for a local election is far less than that -- we're lucky if we get in the high teens for too many Manatee ballots.

The U.S. Census is tracking progress, and so can you. On Bradenton.com, we've added a widget so you can track your neighborhood and the rest of our communities. Just click here on the Local page, then scroll down below the blogs and find the link to the "2010 Census Participation Rate" form. Click in and you'll be able see how we're doing in Manatee County -- even how your ZIP and neighborhood are tracking.

The stakes are high: The more residents who declare Manatee County as their home, the better we will fare in getting what we need to ensure that our residents get their fair share of the future. Our population's base and its needs are key in getting funds we need to grow and flourish.

You owe it to yourself to report yourself.

-- Joan

Searching Bradenton.com just got easier

If you haven't used the search engine on Bradenton.com for a while, check it out. You'll find your exploration much easier.

We use Planet Discover -- according to its website, "Planet Discover helps media companies, online portals and content distributors enable content through integrated search and advertising technologies." All I know is, searching our web site used to be, well, frankly, quite frustrating. Now, with the latest upgrade, it's actually very useful -- and faster.

Here are some of the improvements, according to our web developer Richard McNeil:
Longer (full) web headlines for stories
Short story summary, making it easier to find and read your choice
Dated entries, starting with the most recent
Photos appear with story
Search by relevance, by date or by category
Itemized count on results

If you can't find a certain story, shoot us an email. If it's supposed to be online, we'll help you find it.

Richard McNeil

Joan Krauter

Contest: Herald's Easter Egg Hunt is on

Calling all Easter egg hunters!

We're 11 days out from Easter -- and that means we launched the Bradenton Herald’s annual Ultimate Egg Hunt Contest today.

(Trust me, we counted H-A-P-P-Y E-A-S-T-E-R more than once!)

The directions are spelled out in this story. Just find all 11 eggs in print, and you could win a trip to Disney. (Since you're reading my blog, I'll give you a clue for today: The whole "H" is inside the Local section.)

We've added a twist this year online: We want your photos. Find the egg, take a creative photograph of it with your kids, your puppy, your sweetie -- and upload them to photos.Bradenton.com.
Directions:
Step 1: Go to photos.bradenton.com
Step 2: Click “Submit Your Media”
Step 3: Browse for your photo on your computer
Step 4: Give your photo a title, and your name/email as author, add description and other details.
Step 5: Under genre, choose “EASTER EGG CONTEST”

To see your photos after they have been uploaded successfully, click “All photos” and then choose, under “Contest”, “EASTER EGG CONTEST” from the dropdown menu.

The winner of the photo contest will receive a two-week subscription to the Bradenton Herald.

Winners will be announced April 11.

Happy hunting!

(we bribed Presentation Editor Jennifer Conklin to pose for the first online test:)

Always a winner at McKechnie Field

Full confession: Today was my first spring training game of the year at McKechnie Field. I almost missed the entire 2010 pre-season -- heresy!

For the past three years, the Pirates' arrival at McKechnie has been a rite of passage into spring on this blog. And I didn't need a reminder, but the sights, sounds and aromas were phenomenal today. Sure, the Pirates got pounded 11-1, as John Lembo notes here on Facebook, but that didn't change the joy on most folks' faces. Here's a glimpse into that crowd during a classic scramble for a foul ball.

Photographer Grant Jefferies was shooting the game for the Herald, and he captured a wonderful story with this photo of Marilyn Jones-Doxey. That's "Jonesy," one of the players on the Rockford Peaches team in the historic and ground-breaking All-American Girls Professional Baseball League! (Think "A League of Their Own.")

According to the Women's Sports Foundation website, Jonesy was a pitcher and catcher, and helped the Rockford Peaches win the league championship in 1950. She was traded to the Battle Creek Belles in the middle of the next season. But Jonesy had the last laugh when she pitched a no-hit-no-run game against her former teammates. She had a 2.79 lifetime ERA.

Jonesy honored the McKechnie crowd today by throwing out the first pitch (actually, the second, but who's counting?). The ball didn't quite make it to home plate, but her spirit filled the stadium.

Sometime after the first inning, I went to check out my old season-ticket seats, and my longtime seatmates are all up north this year. But the updates and prognoses were all good -- and John and Betty can rest assured. Their pals bought their season tickets to make sure they can return next year.

And I see two season tickets back in my possession next year. What was I thinking?

-- Joan