The last hurrah of summer

 Today is the first day of autumn.  And I’m ready for the change.

But last weekend we enjoyed one last taste of summer.

Saturday night.  The last weekend of the Atlantic League’s regular season. The Long Island Ducks played North Carolina’s High Point Rockers.  Both teams had been eliminated from playoff contention, so the game had no meaning beyond the moment.  But the evening was sponsored by the PBA, one of our local congressman (Long Island has four congressional districts);threw out the first pitch, and it was fireworks night — attracting the largest crowd of the season,

Unfortunately the Ducks lost. That was the end of baseball.

Or was it?

 Drew said ‘they’ve got a BOGO on tickets for tomorrow’s game.”

So we spent Sunday afternoon at the ballpark.

It was Islip Goes Purple Day.

Islip Goes Purple is a month-long initiative designed to unite The Town of Islip in raising awareness of mental health, substance use disorder and celebrating those in recovery. All townships are encouraged to “go purple” and hold events throughout National Recovery Month in September.

So the team wore purple.

Even our mascot, Quackerjack, wore purple.

Drew won $178 in the 50/50 raffle!

And between the two games we collected lots of tchotchkes — tote bags, water bottles, sunglasses, flashlights, yo-yos …

Unfortunately the Ducks lost. Wait until next year.

In the meantime enjoy the fireworks.