Peggy McCall
Miracle League of Arkansas
Born to blue collar workers in rural Illinois, Peggy McCall-Robertson inherited a strong work ethic, and from her father gained a love of tinkering and learning how things work.
Peggy served as a Youth Director for the Methodist Church in central Arkansas for nearly 20 years, followed by retail work that gave her the experience needed to develop a business plan of her own.
The first Miracle League was created in Georgia in 2000 with the goal of providing opportunities for children with disabilities to play baseball, offering a huge boost to their physical and mental wellbeing. Inspired, Peggy partnered with the Little Rock Rotary Club 99 to bring the program to Arkansas. In 2006, the first Miracle League of AR season opened with Peggy as Executive Director.
When she isn't organizing "the greatest game on turf", Peggy enjoys camping, cooking, and helping her husband with his own creative projects.
Listen to Learn:
- The moment that inspired Peggy to build the Miracle Field
- About the importance of 'Buddies' in the League
- How to create an environment that's comfortable for everyone, and more...
Podcast Links
TRANSCRIPT
EPISODE 450
[INTRODUCTION]
[0:00:08] GM: Welcome to Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy, a production of flagandbanner.com. Through storytelling, conversational interviews, and Kerry's natural curiosity, this weekly radio show and podcast offers listeners an insider's view into the commonalities of entrepreneurs, athletes, medical professionals, politicians and other successful people, all sharing their stories of success and the ups and downs of risk-taking. Connect with Kerry through her candid, funny, informative and always encouraging weekly blog. Now, it's time for Kerry McCoy to get all up in your business.
[EPISODE]
[0:00:41] KM: Thank you, son Gray. This show began in 2016 as a way for me and other successful people to pay forward our experiential knowledge. It wasn't long before my team and I realized that we were the person's learning. Listening to our guests has been both educational and inspiring. To quote the Dalai Lama, “When you talk, you're only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.”
After listening to hundreds of successful people share their stories, I've noticed some reoccurring traits. Most of my guests believe in a higher power, have the heart of a teacher, and they all work hard. Before I introduce today's guest, I want to let you know, if you miss any part of today's show, want to hear it again, or share it, there's a way, and son Gray will tell you how.
[0:01:27] GM: All UIYB past and present interviews are available at Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy’s YouTube channel, Facebook page, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s digital version, flagandbanner.com’s website, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Just ask your smart speaker to play Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy. By subscribing to our YouTube channel, or flagandbanner.com’s email list, you will receive prior notification of that week's guest. Back to you, Kerry.
[0:01:53] KM: Thanks again. My guest today is Miss Peggy McCall Robertson, the Founder and Executive Director of the Miracle League of Arkansas, a baseball league that gives disabled children a chance at the camaraderie of team sports, while making memories that last their whole family a lifetime. Peggy says, the idea for this very special magical memory bubble called the Miracle Field came one day while sitting in a ballpark proudly watching her own son. At the time, she was working in a clinic for disabled children and had the thought of sharing this proud parent moment by pairing the joy of team sports with disabled children and their often-exhausted parents.
Inspired by the first Miracle League field built in Georgia, she went to work on her idea and found the perfect business partner, Little Rock Rotary Club 99. In the spring of 2005, the Miracle League program of Arkansas was opened. Since then, hundreds of families, volunteers and challenged children have experienced the magic of what Peggy calls the greatest game on turf. It is with great pleasure. I welcome to the table the dreamer, the doer, the woman with a wide, wide heart, Founder and Executive Director of the Miracle League of Arkansas, Miss Peggy McCall Robertson.
[0:03:13] PMR: Thank you.
[0:03:13] KM: Peggy, I've known you. I’ll just tell our listeners, I've known you before. I haven't seen you in years and you've gotten married.
[0:03:19] PMR: I have. I have.
[0:03:21] KM: I know. Congratulations. No more Peggy McCall. You took his name.
[0:03:25] PMR: Yes.
[0:03:25] GM: My goodness.
[0:03:26] PMR: Proud of it.
[0:03:27] KM: Well, good for you.
[0:03:30] GM: That's good.
[0:03:31] PMR: Yes.
[0:03:32] KM: Let's talk about where you grew up. I didn't realize you weren't from Arkansas. I'm always amazed at how many of my guests come from afar, move here, become highly successful in Arkansas. It's not a place you probably thought when you were growing up, “I think I'll move to Arkansas.” Tell us how you ended up in Arkansas.
[0:03:50] PMR: I grew up in Illinois. I grew up in Colchester, Illinois, a little farm town, literally in cornfields. We had six –
[0:03:58] KM: What's the name of?
[0:03:59] PMR: Colchester. C-O-L-chester.
[0:04:01] KM: Okay.
[0:04:02] PMR: Early years, it was Colechester. But they dropped the E. There was a lot of coal mining in the area. Grew up in a small town. My class was 32 people. 600 in town, so everybody knew your business. They were all up in your business all the time. It was a great place to grow up. I was a typical kid. Love my bicycle. That was my transportation. I'd ride to the next town, which was the big town. Had a small college in it. It was great.
[0:04:37] KM: What your dad do? Was he a coal miner?
[0:04:38] PMR: No. He worked as a body man when I was young, and –
[0:04:42] KM: What’s a body man? Like a body mechanic?
[0:04:44] PMR: Yes. Fix your car, dents and paint. He was in the paint booth a lot. I could always know when he got home, I could smell that smell. When I smell it now, it takes me right back there, because I love the smell of that paint.
[0:04:58] KM: How many brothers and sisters you have?
[0:04:59] PMR: I have a sister. She was five years older.
[0:05:01] KM: Did you play baseball?
[0:05:02] PMR: No. No. I played softball once. My glove was so small. I was the catcher. The ball didn't fit, and so was horrible at it. But that's okay. I played, was on a team and did what I could.
[0:05:18] KM: You don't seem small to me. Are you small?
[0:05:20] PMR: No.
[0:05:21] GM: The glove was small.
[0:05:21] PMR: My glove was small. You're right, I am not small. You've got that one.
[0:05:29] KM: Your father died in an early age.
[0:05:32] PMR: He did. I was 16.
[0:05:32] KM: I bet that was a big learning lesson for you. Is that made you want to go into service work?
[0:05:36] PMR: No. In fact, it's surprising I did. You know how the preacher comes over your house after the funeral and everybody brings all that food? He told me, I must have done something really bad.
[0:05:55] KM: The preacher told you that?
[0:05:56] PMR: That's why my father died.
[0:05:58] KM: Are you kidding me?
[0:05:59] PMR: No.
[0:06:00] GM: Oh, what a punk.
[0:06:02] PMR: I said, “Maybe my sister.” Because she was older and she was always doing everything that my parents told her not to do. She was my good teacher, because I saw the consequence, or the reaction. I always just did the opposite, which saved me a lot of grace. But yeah. Then amazingly, I worked in the church for 20 years, which doesn't make any sense after what he did. It just doesn't make sense. I guess at that time, I was determined to – people see youth and children, but all people, but youth and children are so impressionable. It was important to me that people that they would look up to would not say stupid things. That have such a profound impact on them, and could steer you in all kinds of ways, many of which would be running the other way. Typically, as a teenager, that would be the case.
I don't know. I just like kids. I like kids better than adults. I'll take a disabled kid over anybody before, because the players at our ballpark, they are just the most humbling and real. We don't have many filters. We do have to use manners and they'll get checked on that if they don't, but they don't have any ill intent in what they say.
[0:07:35] KM: I mean, you're right. It is so impressionable, because how many years ago was that that preacher said that still upset you? How many years ago was that?
[0:07:42] PMR: Oh, 59.
[0:07:43] KM: 60 years ago, and it still hangs with you. On the flip side of that, 60 years from now, those kids that you're working with are going to still have the positive effect of what you've done for them. How'd you end up coming to Little Rock?
[0:07:59] PMR: Fell in love, got married with Arkansas.
[0:08:00] KM: It's always a man or a woman.
[0:08:02] GM: It is frequently marriage.
[0:08:04] KM: Or college.
[0:08:04] GM: If it's not a job, it's school. If it's not school, it's love. Yeah.
[0:08:07] KM: Where is he? You're not –
[0:08:11] PMR: No.
[0:08:12] KM: Because you nearly married. But you stayed.
[0:08:15] PMR: I did stay. Yeah.
[0:08:17] KM: Why did you stay in Arkansas? What made you like it?
[0:08:19] GM: Well, what am I going to do in a town of 600?
[0:08:22] KM: Well, that's right.
[0:08:25] PMR: We were here for a long time, and it became my home.
[0:08:32] KM: What job did you do before you were the Executive Director of Miracle League?
[0:08:38] PMR: I worked in the Methodist Church for almost 20 years in Springdale, Rogers, and Little Rock. Then I went into retail and cosmetics, which is quite funny, if you really know me. That is the last thing in the world I'm concerned about. But it was a way for me to take care of bills and live at that period of time. Went to work for the Gap, and we did a mission project with Habitat one day, or one period. I was like, I got to get back to service work. My soul wasn't filled.
[0:09:15] KM: When you were at the church, was it service work with kids?
[0:09:19] PMR: Junior and senior high.
[0:09:20] KM: Junior and senior high. Were you like the youth leader?
[0:09:24] PMR: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[0:09:25] KM: That's a tough job. I don't like junior high kids. I love kids, but I don't like junior high kids.
[0:09:32] GM: Same.
[0:09:32] PMR: You know the greatest thing I found with any kid, junior and senior high age, is that get them out of their comfort zone.
[0:09:40] KM: Really?
[0:09:42] PMR: In Little Rock, we were taking a summer trip, we were going to the beach. The kids were all excited. The parents and I got together and we decided that we were going to the beach, but we were not going to a condo. We went camping. We got the vans loaded and everything without the kids knowing we were camping. We roll up and we get to the beach and they're all excited and stuff. Because they didn't see all the gear. We gotten all that in there so they didn't see it. We get out and they think we're going across the street, I said, “Well, yeah. Let's go across the street for a little while.” They go to the beach and stuff. That's the first time I've ever been to a beach.
[0:10:26] KM: Oh, really?
[0:10:28] PMR: Then we come back across the street and I said, “Okay, let's unload.” They're like, “What? What? I'm calling my mom.” I said, “Your parents know.”
[0:10:39] GM: Yeah. Oh, I love that.
[0:10:41] PMR: It was so fun, because they had to work together. They were uncomfortable. They got in a different mindset. The conversations were so much different. I can't imagine being a youth worker with these phones. I mean, I would have to check those things. I mean, because it's just too much. You never really interact with people if it's that way.
[0:11:03] KM: I can't imagine camping with sand in your bed.
[0:11:06] PMR: Oh, it was fine. They had a blast.
[0:11:07] KM: Yeah, but me, I won't.
[0:11:11] PMR: Hey, 20, 30 years ago, you've been just fine.
[0:11:13] KM: You're right. You're exactly right.
[0:11:15] GM: I did a trip just like that after Katrina in 2005 or 6. It was a relief trip. We all went down and helped distribute stuff to a local community in South Mississippi, I think. Yeah, it was right on the beach and we all had to camp and –
[0:11:30] KM: You did?
[0:11:30] GM: We went with parents. Yeah.
[0:11:32] KM: Did I sign the permissions with you?
[0:11:33] GM: Apparently, yes. It was funny, because we were all exhausted and it was crazy and it was a fun learning experience. Yes, all of the moms who had to chaperone were like, “Okay, I think I'm ready to go back to my bed now, please. I don't want to shower in a booth anymore. Yeah, and out of a barrel.” It's fun though.
[0:11:51] PMR: It is.
[0:11:52] GM: It was a great learning experience. I mean, I still remember a lot of it.
[0:11:56] PMR: Yeah, lasting memories.
[0:11:57] GM: Oh, yeah.
[0:11:58] PMR: If you get out of your comfort zone.
[0:11:59] KM: I think people that take care of kids, like you did Peggy, have a jewel in their crown in heaven. I cannot imagine taking a bunch of eighth graders to the beach.
[0:12:12] PMR: I never lost one.
[0:12:14] GM: Well, that's good. Well, that's good.
[0:12:16] PMR: We had a system when I'd take them to New York and DC, like a state thing. They all had a number. I'd get in front of the bus and say, number off. We knew if someone wasn’t on their bus.
[0:12:29] KM: That's a good idea.
[0:12:29] PMR: On the vans, yeah, number off, sound off. Let's see.
[0:12:33] GM: Roll call.
[0:12:33] PMR: Yup.
[0:12:36] KM: You moved it. You worked in both Methodist churches. Is that what you said?
[0:12:40] PMR: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[0:12:40] KM: Methodist churches in Springdale and Little Rock. Then you came back here and you started working for a kids –
[0:12:44] PMR: Kid source.
[0:12:45] KM: What is that?
[0:12:46] PMR: It's a therapy clinic in Benton and they provide services.
[0:12:50] KM: Do you have any education in that?
[0:12:51] PMR: No.
[0:12:52] KM: Ain’t that nice?
[0:12:56] PMR: It's nice that my families accept me without.
[0:13:00] KM: I mean, experience is so much better than academic learning. I mean, if you've been experiencing it and doing it, you obviously love it. Whereas, a lot of people make a decision to go into school if they want to go into teaching, or whatever. Then they find out they really don't like it. You loved it from day one.
[0:13:21] PMR: We also started a nonprofit there.
[0:13:23] KM: What was that?
[0:13:26] PMR: Well, that's when I went one Monday and said, “Hey, let's –” Didn't really have anything to hang our hat on. We were doing a thing called creative spaces. So, we would go into a child's room, a client's room, and/or a space in their house and make their house work better for them. Say you have a bathroom and you have a cabinet sink and you're in a wheelchair. That's not good. You can't get up to it. You change that out, or make things so they could be more independent within their home.
After the ball game, I went to work, I said, “Hey, we need to start a ball program. Parents need to have the same memories I do.” They're like, “What?” I said, “No, I think it'll work.” They were like, “Well, okay. Take off. Let's go see what can you do.”
[0:14:13] KM: They're like, “Hey, secretary. Get back to your desk.” Tell our listeners how you were sitting at the ballpark one day and you just had this revelation.
[0:14:22] PMR: My son grew up playing Little League in Northwest Arkansas and Central Arkansas. He was playing kickball. Mid-20s, playing kickball. The league’s huge in this area. I went to a game one day, still showing up and watching my kid play ball. Another lady there, we realized our kids played Little League together. We started reminiscing about that. Then, when I drove out of that ballpark, I thought, man, the parents at Kid Source need to have the same memories I did. That's when I went to work. I thought about football. No. Don't know anything about soccer. I just felt like, baseball be the easiest.
[0:15:03] KM: You were really focused on almost the parents more than the kids.
[0:15:07] PMR: Oh, yeah. Well, I knew the kids were going to be winners. That's a given. That's a given, that they're going to get to –
[0:15:14] GM: Their heart’s going to be in it.
[0:15:15] PMR: Yeah.
[0:15:15] KM: You go back and you tell your people and they're like, “Yeah, you're crazy.” You had never heard of the Miracle League?
[0:15:21] PMR: No, I had not. I went to Mayor Daley at the time and I said, “Hey, I've got this idea. I want to do a baseball program. It's for disabled kids and adults. So, I need some land. I'm not buying land.” I said, “You've got land we can use, but do not put us way out and nowhere.” Because our parents have – it's struggling enough to get their gear, wheelchair, walk, or whatever, slow moving gear all in and tucked right. He goes, “I've heard something about a Miracle League.” I said, “Well, who is it?” That's when the Rotary Club 99 came in. Club 99 wanted to do a centennial gift to the city and they had gone and seen a field.
[0:16:02] KM: Oh.
[0:16:03] PMR: They had that already churning within the club.
[0:16:06] KM: What? This timing is godly.
[0:16:10] PMR: Well, yeah. If you get out of your way, it works out.
[0:16:13] KM: It does.
[0:16:14] PMR: Finally, I found them.
[0:16:16] KM: How long from when you were sitting in the ballpark to you saw Daley?
[0:16:21] PMR: Within weeks, yeah.
[0:16:23] KM: You were just wound up about it. I get that way.
[0:16:25] GM: Oh, yeah. The story of mob's life.
[0:16:27] PMR: Yeah. I could say.
[0:16:27] KM: I get that way. I totally relate to this. I get a dream. I mean, you must be a big dreamer. I just get these dreams and I start going crazy about them. The next thing you know, I bought the Taborian Hall with a big hole in the roof in Downtown Little Rock. I totally get it. Did you go to Georgia?
[0:16:44] PMR: I went to Birmingham.
[0:16:45] KM: Oh, is there one in Alabama, too?
[0:16:46] PMR: Mm-hmm.
[0:16:47] KM: Oh, so how many Miracle Leagues are there?
[0:16:49] PMR: Well, I don't really know, because they've said 300 forever. I don't know.
[0:16:55] KM: Even when you started 20 years ago, they said 300?
[0:16:57] GM: Nice.
[0:16:59] PMR: I know that there's several chapters that have left, or done different things. There's other things out there that are similar. They just don't have that name. People out there hearing and listening to this, if you've not been to a Miracle League and you live someplace else, there are other chapters. Just Google up, baseball for disabled people, kids. Anyway, we started playing in fall of 2006. Rotary Club raised the money –
[0:17:28] KM: Did it all.
[0:17:28] PMR: Built the field and then handed it over. Mark Davis and I, we had a little push and pull, because I was so gung ho and he goes, “Now pal, this is how we're doing it.”
[0:17:40] KM: Pal. That’s what he calls you? Pal? That's not a word I'd use on you, but okay.
[0:17:47] PMR: I think he calls lots of people, pal.
[0:17:48] KM: He must.
[0:17:49] GM: It’s his thing.
[0:17:49] PMR: Yeah.
[0:17:50] KM: All right. This is a great place to take a break. When we come back, we'll continue our conversation with Miss Peggy McCall Robertson, Founder, Executive Director of the Miracle League of Arkansas. We'll be right back.
[BREAK]
[0:18:00] GM: You're listening to Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy, a production of flagandbanner.com. In 1975, with only $400, Kerry founded Arkansas Flag and Banner. Since then, the business has grown and changed, along with Kerry's experience and leadership knowledge. In 1995, she embraced the Internet and rebranded her company as simply flagandbanner.com. In 2004, she became an early blogger. Since then, she has founded the nonprofit Friends of Dreamland Ballroom, began publishing her magazine, Brave. In 2016, branched out into this very radio show, YouTube channel, and podcast. In 2020, Kerry McCoy Enterprises acquired ourcornermarket.com, an online company specializing in American-made plaques, signage, and memorials.
In 2021, flagandbanner expanded to a satellite office in Miami, Florida, where first-generation immigrants keep the art of sewing alive and flags made in America. Telling American-made stories, selling American-made flags, the flagandbanner.com. Back to you, Kerry.
[INTERVIEW CONTINUED]
[0:19:05] KM: Thanks, Gray. We're speaking today with Miss Peggy McCall Robertson, the woman behind and out front of the Miracle League of Arkansas, a baseball field, and a leg for children with disabilities. The dreams are taking shape. Mayor Daley gave you the parking lot at Junior Deputy.
[0:19:23] PMR: Yes.
[0:19:25] KM: It's time to break ground. How long did it take you from deciding on it until you decided to break ground? A year of planning? What was it?
[0:19:31] PMR: Oh, no. It took us, I think, it took the rotary about four years to raise the funds. I got in the mix in 2005, 4 or 5, and we started playing fall of 06.
[0:19:49] KM: Yeah. I read 5. One time I read 2005. One time I read 2006. It's like, when people asked me, when did I renovate the Taborian Hall? 1990, 1991. I can't remember. I can't remember. It’s too long ago. It meshes together.
[0:20:03] PMR: Well, our first games was fall of 2006.
[0:20:05] KM: For sure.
[0:20:06] PMR: Yeah.
[0:20:07] KM: I know that was scary.
[0:20:10] PMR: Well, it was very interesting, because I didn't know what in the world I was doing.
[0:20:13] KM: I know. That's the way it always is.
[0:20:14] PMR: And so, I asked some of the parents at the clinic who I knew pretty well. I said, “Can you guys come to the ballpark the week before?” They're like, “Okay.” I said, “I need to practice and figure out what we're doing.”
[0:20:32] KM: What are the rules for baseball? No, I'm just kidding.
[0:20:34] PMR: Our rules are different.
[0:20:35] KM: I bet.
[0:20:36] PMR: We have three.
[0:20:37] KM: What are they?
[0:20:38] PMR: Everyone has fun. No one gets hurt, and there's no judgment.
[0:20:42] KM: Oh, those are good rules.
[0:20:42] GM: Perfect.
[0:20:44] KM: All right. They’re coming.
[0:20:45] PMR: The kids come out and we play this little game and get a feel for how the walkers and everything are going to react to the turf and how long it's going to take, etc., etc. There's this little girl and her name's Cassie, and she had these little round face and these little tiny pigtails up here. So cute, so sweet. She came out and played with several other kids at the clinic. Got ready for the next week for our game and Cassie came, or she didn't come. She'd gone into the hospital. We're like, okay, she'll be out soon. The sad story with that is after our season, I took her trophy over to her and she passed away two days later.
[0:21:35] KM: Now, I'm going to cry. This is going to be a tearjerker.
[0:21:38] GM: Y'all keep it together at this table.
[0:21:42] PMR: Mark Davis was like, it's just a game. He was going, “It's not a big deal, Peggy. You're over working this.” I'm glad he said that, because I do that.
[0:21:52] KM: You mean the first – you mean, the opening day?
[0:21:54] PMR: Or just that practice game. They're just –
[0:21:57] KM: Like, dress rehearsal, or something.
[0:21:58] PMR: Yeah. Yeah. He goes, “It's going to be okay.” I said, “I know it will, but I just want to see.” That day on our practice game, I said, “You just never know when it will be someone's last game.”
[0:22:11] KM: Oh, God.
[0:22:13] GM: There you go.
[0:22:13] PMR: Then, yeah. We had to move –
[0:22:16] KM: He had to eat his words, didn’t he? You like that?
[0:22:20] PMR: No. No. But it's just fact. You just don't know. From there, we started a memorial garden, Angels in the Outfield.
[0:22:30] KM: Oh, no. You did. I didn't read about that. Where's that?
[0:22:34] PMR: It's at the ball field down third baseline. There's a little piece of grass back there with a crepe myrtle in it and a stone bench that says, Angels in the Outfield. That's our little memorial sweet space.
[0:22:44] KM: You put their names in there?
[0:22:46] PMR: I do. We put their name, their birth date and death date.
[0:22:50] KM: Is it on the ground, or is it on a plaque?
[0:22:53] PMR: We use bricks.
[0:22:56] KM: Bricks.
[0:22:57] PMR: And etch them and stick them to the wall. We probably have a dozen.
[0:23:02] KM: That's not very many for 20 years.
[0:23:04] PMR: Mm-hmm. One of my players every season, he's in the AAA league. He goes out to the wall and takes a look, because he knows many of the people, because they've been players, or coaches. One year, he said, “Ms. Peggy, are we going to put your name on the wall?” I said, “Well, I hope so.”
[0:23:22] KM: Not anytime soon.
[0:23:23] GM: Maybe just not now. Yeah.
[0:23:25] PMR: Yeah. I said, I hope so. Because I tell him all the time, be sweet. If I sense a little something elevating, I'll go, “Now, be sweet.” I said, when I die, if you guys put that on there, make sure my brick says, “Be sweet.” And he started laughing. I said, so every year when you can come out here and take a look, see if there's additions, you'll be reminded that I told you thousands of times, be sweet.
[0:23:55] GM: That's cute.
[0:23:55] KM: How was opening day?
[0:23:56] PMR: It was fabulous.
[0:23:57] KM: Describe it.
[0:23:59] PMR: Oh. I couldn't sleep the night before. It was like a kid Christmas Eve. I still get that way, before opening day after all these years. The night before, I just can’t get any sleep. I'm so excited to see everyone again and watching. I mean, some of these players are still playing that were there opening day.
[0:24:16] KM: Really?
[0:24:17] PMR: Yes.
[0:24:17] KM: They're 20-years-old, or 25-years-old.
[0:24:20] PMR: 30.
[0:24:20] KM: 30-years-old. Are they volunteers now that help the other kids that they're still running the bases? They're still running the bases. How many volunteers does it take?
[0:24:29] PMR: Northwest Arkansas, they try to get 50.
[0:24:32] GM: Okay.
[0:24:33] PMR: That's 50, plus the core team, my volunteer staff in Northwest. Here we need about 25, because we have one field.
[0:24:42] KM: Per game.
[0:24:43] PMR: Mm-hmm.
[0:24:44] KM: How many players are there per game?
[0:24:46] PMR: Depends. Right now in Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas, our teams are really big. We have 10, 11, 12 kids on a team. That's a lot when you get on a field, because you have a buddy with them, because every player has a buddy.
[0:25:01] KM: Every player has a buddy.
[0:25:02] PMR: Their parents sit in the stands. Parents and kids need to break from each other.
[0:25:07] GM: Dude. No, I was just about to say, I like that they have a buddy that's not their parent.
[0:25:10] PMR: Yes. Yeah. COVID did – I did get over that during COVID. I had to.
[0:25:17] GM: Sure. People who share space need to stay together, all that stuff.
[0:25:21] PMR: We're past that, and we have got all these people that come out. We have the most amazing buddy volunteers under the sun.
[0:25:28] KM: It's so rewarding.
[0:25:30] PMR: Yeah. Once we get everybody buddied up, the way we decide who's up first is what team has the most players in the field.
[0:25:38] GM: Nice.
[0:25:39] PMR: Because they're already there.
[0:25:40] KM: They just run out there.
[0:25:42] PMR: They're out there, and the other team gets to the dugout. We start pitching. We live pitch to them.
[0:25:48] KM: Who's pitching? A volunteer?
[0:25:50] PMR: Mm-hmm. We've got a guy named Tony Jenkins. He comes from Malvern, has since day one.
[0:25:56] KM: He pitches to them?
[0:25:57] PMR: He's still coming.
[0:25:58] KM: Then the buddy, which helps –
[0:26:02] PMR: Helps the player do whatever they can't.
[0:26:04] KM: Then they run the bases if they can.
[0:26:05] PMR: They go to first base.
[0:26:08] KM: If they want color, or shade.
[0:26:11] PMR: It's white and it's a square. That was another learning curve. We said, run to the base. Well, they don't understand what that is. So, we go, “Run to the white square.” That's first base. Run to that white square. That's second base. They start learning. The players advance one base at a time. The last person up to bat hits the homerun. Now, that ball might drop right here in front of the plate, but it's a big deal. There's a lot of cheering. We clear the bases. Then the next team gets up to bat, same thing goes on. We play only one hour. There are no practices between therapy schedules and sibling schedules. It's just too much and not going to happen probably.
[0:26:57] KM: Some of them don't even want to go out on the field. They're intimidated, probably.
[0:27:00] PMR: Well, here's some stories. There's a player three season, four seasons ago. He and his dad walked into the dugout. His precious little downs boy. He's on his dad's hip. He won't give me eye contact at all. Hides from me in his dad's neck every time I'd walk by. That's how he played the whole first game, or the whole first season, seven games, in the dugout on his dad's hip. You know what? That's okay. That's where he is. That's where he is in the, what's happening. Next season comes along, and he's giving me eye contact. I'm going, “I'm breaking in now.” We'd go talk to him and we'd walk toward the home plate and he goes, “Mm-mm. Not doing it.” He wasn't going there.
Third season, he finally goes to the home plate, walks out there on his own. He's been there now 15 times. He's decided, this is okay. Goes to the plate. Pitcher rolls. He won't touch bat. Pitcher rolls ball to him, he grabs the ball and runs the bases in homerun. You know what?
[0:28:07] KM: Yay.
[0:28:07] PMR: Yay.
[0:28:08] GM: Yeah. That’s awesome.
[0:28:09] PMR: He really did it all.
[0:28:09] GM: That’s awesome. Yeah. Yeah.
[0:28:11] PMR: We get that excited about it, and then some –
[0:28:13] KM: I’m excited about it. Yeah.
[0:28:14] PMR: I know, right? I'm hoping this season, maybe he'll touch bat. I don't know. You know what? He may, or may not. If he doesn't, it's okay, because –
[0:28:22] KM: He's probably going to be one of those lifers at 35 that's still coming down there.
[0:28:25] PMR: I guarantee you.
[0:28:27] KM: That you do have lifers, don't you?
[0:28:27] PMR: Yeah, we do. And volunteers and players. I tell people that say they want to come and volunteer, or coach, I said, “I want you to think long and hard about it. Think about five and 10 years out, what's going to be going on in your life, because you may end up here this long.”
[0:28:43] KM: You get addicted. You just get addicted.
[0:28:47] PMR: Yeah. It's just so innocent. It's just so wonderful and –
[0:28:51] KM: It’s beautiful.
[0:28:52] PMR: Magic. There's a blanket of grace that –
[0:28:56] GM: It’s hard to find in any other aspect of life. Yeah.
[0:28:58] PMR: Yeah. The grace piece is that we've had so many near ball hits, or whatever.
[0:29:03] GM: Oh, yeah.
[0:29:04] PMR: Never happens. Only once in all this time.
[0:29:07] KM: Really?
[0:29:08] PMR: Well, only twice.
[0:29:08] KM: Really?
[0:29:10] PMR: Mila got it one night in AA on a Friday night. We play Friday nights now, too.
[0:29:15] GM: Nice.
[0:29:15] PMR: Under the lights, which is way cool. Then, I got one last week.
[0:29:20] KM: You did. Your first one. Good for you, girl.
[0:29:25] PMR: Right in the mouth.
[0:29:25] KM: In the mouth.
[0:29:26] PMR: The player's eyes went, “Ra.”
[0:29:29] KM: Well, you still got your teeth.
[0:29:29] PMR: Yeah.
[0:29:30] KM: That's good to see. All right, this is a great place to take a break. When we come back, we'll continue our conversation with Miss Peggy McCall Robertson, Founder and Executive Director of the Miracle League of Arkansas. Still to come, the visitors, the volunteers and how you can find out more and maybe get involved. We'll be right back.
[BREAK]
[0:29:45] ANNOUNCER: Now a moment of levity from the Up in Your Business archives. You probably think Kerry McCoy never makes a mistake in her show's recording. Well, think otherwise.
[0:29:56] GM: Now, it's time for Kerry McCoy to get all up in your business.
[0:30:00] KM: Thank you, son, Gray. Wait, where am I? Oh, God, we haven't done this in a while. Okay, here I am. Thank you, Gray. A whimsical musical fairy tale by Stephen Sondheim. Is it said Sodom?
[0:30:10] GM: Sondheim.
[0:30:11] KM: How?
[0:30:13] MALE: Sondheim.
[0:30:15] KM: The play Fairy Tale by the late Stephen Sondheim, hi. Oh, say it.
[0:30:19] MALE: It's so close. You almost got it.
[0:30:21] GM: Yeah, I was trying to figure out what his last name actually was three months ago.
[0:30:25] KM: It’s what – it’s what's and what does –
[0:30:26] GM: Jackson.
[0:30:26] KM: Did I? Oh, God. Listen, I really sometimes can't believe I'm on the radio.
[INTERVIEW CONTINUED]
[0:30:32] KM: We're speaking today with Miss Peggy McCall Robertson, the woman behind and out front of the Miracle League of Arkansas, a baseball field and league for children with disabilities. If you're just coming on the show, go back and listen. It's good. How has your fabulous organization grown? 20 years ago, it was one little field with how many players?
[0:30:52] PMR: First season was 42 players.
[0:30:54] KM: Here we are 20 seasons later.
[0:30:56] PMR: We've had thousands of kids. We're probably at 3,500.
[0:31:02] KM: You've grown to Springdale. Are you crazy?
[0:31:05] PMR: No.
[0:31:08] GM: No.
[0:31:08] PMR: No, I'm not crazy. What are you saying, Keerry?
[0:31:10] KM: Are you running that one, or did you hire, or somebody else running that?
[0:31:12] PMR: No.
[0:31:13] KM: Somebody else is running it.
[0:31:14] PMR: Some volunteers.
[0:31:16] KM: Oh, so it's still under your umbrella.
[0:31:18] PMR: Yes. Northwest Arkansas, I used to be a church youth director up there in Northwest Springdale and Rogers.
[0:31:24] KM: You have people.
[0:31:27] PMR: I got bored and I was like, I need to start another field. I had a player that would drive from Salem Springs to Little Rock.
[0:31:37] KM: Oh.
[0:31:37] PMR: Four hours one way for an hour game. She said, “Miss Peggy, would you build me a field?” I was like, “Mackenzie, I'm going to do that one of these days.” In 2008 and a half, 2009, fall of 2008. No, no. Spring in 2009, we decided to build a field in North West. I went to the mayor, asked for dirt. Caught up with two kids that were my youth group. They were 16. I was 22 back then, but they're in their 30s and I'm in my 40s. I was like, you want to get a beer coat? I've got an idea.
[0:32:17] GM: Love that.
[0:32:19] KM: No more Kool-Aide for you. Let's get a beer.
[0:32:21] PMR: Or a Coke.
[0:32:21] KM: Or Coke.
[0:32:22] GM: Or Coke.
[0:32:25] PMR: Caught up with the two guys. One, he was a bandie and it was so funny. He goes, “I know I owe you, because the kids used to always pick on him.” I said, “I believe you do.” He was like, “I'm in.” Another guy was, too. Brian and Blake and I, in 17 months, raised $710,000 and built the field. We were a month out, and we had enough money to do everything, except cover one field in the tile. One of those guys said, “Well, we'll just wait until we get the money.” I said, “You know what? Mm-mm. We're not coming out of the gate not complete.” I said, because I will never give a person a chance to say, “Oh, those poor, pitiful, disabled kids. They couldn't raise the money for them to have their fields complete.”
I would check in with a gentleman that had given us $100,000 every once in a while, and he'd call me up and say, “How things going? Da-da-da.” I was just checking in with him. I said, “You know, Mr. Gerald,” I said, “We're about a month out. We are closing in.” He goes, “So, how's it going?” I said, “Well, dang. I'm $200,000 short. But I'm going to find it because that's what we need to finish that second –” I told him the story about what they had said. He goes, “You know what, Peggy? I'll give you $100,000 if you get it matched.” I said, “Get your checkbook out. I'll be back in touch in a week.” The three of us found $100,000 and got it matched. We started playing in 10 there, fall of 10, 2010.
[0:34:12] KM: You were only five years in at the other place, or four, and you opened up another one. Now, you're 15 years in on that one. You've got a great legacy.
[0:34:21] PMR: I want to be build one more.
[0:34:22] KM: Where?
[0:34:23] PMR: Batesville.
[0:34:24] KM: Really? Lyon’s College.
[0:34:25] PMR: Yup. The reason for that is we have players that drive from Heber Springs and Batesville. Our parents will drive easy an hour, hour and a half. The population is there. The industry is there that could support.
[0:34:43] KM: Outside of raising all this money, you go to every game.
[0:34:47] PMR: I work every game.
[0:34:48] KM: Is it work to do in the middle of the week when you're not – In the middle of the week, you're raising money, or checking with parents, or what? Describe a day for me for you.
[0:34:57] PMR: It's very cycled. We get gearing up for ball season. You come out of ball season, you got your fundraiser. Right now, we got a fundraiser and ball season sandwiched together. A lot of times, our parents will be in the hospital, and especially my players in Little Rock, the ones that I know, I'd be like, “If you need a break,” even if they're just sleeping, I can go up there and sit. If they wake up, they'd at least know who I was. If you need to get out of the hospital, just holler at me.
[0:35:27] KM: Our buddies, when they first come, the volunteers scared at first?
[0:35:30] PMR: I think most people are apprehensive, because they've not been in that environment.
[0:35:35] KM: You have professional ball players?
[0:35:36] PMR: Sometimes. Yeah.
[0:35:38] KM: What do they think about all that?
[0:35:40] PMR: They love it.
[0:35:40] KM: Do they come to visit the kids and go, “Oh, my gosh”?
[0:35:43] PMR: We used to do a fundraiser based around some of pro baseball players that I'm associated with, with the Derek that I help. The really great fun people, ball player-wise is the college students that come out. Harding University, those boys are amazing. They're so good. In Northwest Arkansas, the softball girls come out, which are so much fun.
[0:36:11] KM: I bet. That's a great volunteer work for them.
[0:36:14] PMR: Yes. Yeah. They're still a kid, but they're not. They still have fun and can horse around.
[0:36:20] KM: I think UALR has a big baseball program.
[0:36:22] PMR: Yes, they do. Coach Curry is a huge fan of us.
[0:36:25] KM: Oh, that's wonderful.
[0:36:25] PMR: He's wonderful.
[0:36:26] KM: I told our listeners that I would get back to the flood of 2019. Tell us what happened.
[0:36:29] PMR: Well, let's go back to the buddies first.
[0:36:31] KM: Oh, okay. You asked if they – I think that everyone's –
[0:36:35] KM: Nervous.
[0:36:36] PMR: - nervous, or unaware, or whatever. I'm like, “You know what? It's easy. You assist and protect. That's all you got to do. You help them do whatever they can't. If you have a nonverbal person, you ask them yes and no questions.” They look up for a yes and down for a no, or tone out of their voice is higher is yes. Lower is no.
[0:37:00] KM: Interesting.
[0:37:02] PMR: This is yes.
[0:37:03] KM: Interesting.
[0:37:04] PMR: You can quickly communicate. We have this thing called a not block, that some folks in Jonesboro made for us. For the kids that are tight, cerebral palsy, don't know trunk rotation for whatever reason, we put it on a T. We set it up. There's a button that beeps and blinks. The kid touches, the player touches that, and this ball whip, or the bat whips around and hits the ball.
[0:37:35] GM: Oh, nice.
[0:37:36] PMR: It is as thrilling as if they did it their self. Jacqueline will rare up almost out of her chair. She is so excited. Her favorite buddy is this dude named Cool from Windsor Door. He wasn't there when she showed up last season. She was visibly upset and almost in tears. I text somebody and said, “Where is he?” He came back.
[0:38:02] GM: Oh, good.
[0:38:04] PMR: As soon as she saw him, it was over. The volunteers are – you learn so much from our players. They're just a kid. They're all different, just like everybody else in the world. Back to you, would think that I would do this for the players, but I knew they are winners, and I did it for the parents. I think the real winner in our program are the volunteers.
[0:38:32] KM: Really?
[0:38:33] PMR: Yeah, because you can't fault someone for not understanding, until they've had an experience, especially in this bubble. Once you have the experience, you can then in school feel comfortable, given someone in a wheelchair, or walk, or eye contact, or the classy lunchroom story, the new kid is sitting over here, somebody finally comes over. Well, somebody came out to the ballpark one Saturday and volunteered. The buddy said, “I think I know that kid. They went to school together.” They buddied. The magic started. In three weeks, my player came back and said, “Miss Peggy, you're not going to believe this.” I said, “What?” He goes, “I sat at the jock’s table in the cafeteria.” I said, “You need to tell all the jocks to come out to your ballgame.” That's the magic out there.
[0:39:35] KM: Connection. Human connection.
[0:39:36] PMR: Yup. Yup.
[0:39:38] KM: There’s no replacing.
[0:39:38] GM: And understanding. Yeah.
[0:39:41] KM: But it's not all a bed of roses.
[0:39:42] PMR: No, no.
[0:39:44] KM: 2019, the big flood of 2019 in Little Rock.
[0:39:47] PMR: Yeah.
[0:39:48] KM: What'd you do? Flooded your field. Then you had COVID two years later, or one year later. How'd you get through all of that?
[0:39:56] PMR: Passion. You just do it.
[0:39:58] KM: Did it ruin the ball field?
[0:40:01] PMR: Well, so we never got rain. Our water that came to the field never came from the river, from the river side.
[0:40:08] KM: Oh, it didn't rise up and cover it. Where did it come? The drainage ditch?
[0:40:12] PMR: Yup. We put down sandbags, three days of that. It came through the drainage ditch, came across that little one lane bridge. I'd go every day twice a day and see how it was rising. I was just like, oh, my gosh, and then it happened. We had three foot. We got stuff out of the shed.
[0:40:37] GM: All the equipment wasn't around, but yeah.
[0:40:38] PMR: Yeah. There was a period of several weeks that we couldn't do anything until all the water receded. I had the gifts the river brought us tested, because our players sit on the ground.
[0:40:53] KM: Oh, yeah.
[0:40:54] PMR: Their hands go.
[0:40:56] GM: The gifts the river brought us. What gifts did you find on the baseball field?
[0:41:01] PMR: You couldn't kill it with bleach. That's what I found.
[0:41:02] GM: Oh, gross. Gnarly.
[0:41:06] PMR: We had to have it tested and find out what we used. We had to use a chemical that they sanitize operating rooms.
[0:41:12] GM: Okay. Yeah.
[0:41:15] KM: Had no idea what I was doing once again.
[0:41:18] KM: Wow.
[0:41:19] PMR: We had Nav Holt helped us out some. They had a couple people there and everybody else was a volunteer. We have 3,500 volunteer hours logged in that seven-week period. We started at 5.30 in the morning and I left at 9.00 at night. I would go home from 1 to 2, or 2.30.
[0:41:44] KM: Just clean. Just clean and clean and clean and clean and clean.
[0:41:47] PMR: The way we did it, we started at the back stop and went to the scoreboard, made a line and started – we'd have to go out and gather palettes, because we didn't have any. Every morning, everybody go gather as many palettes as they could. Bring them back. The first week, the best day we had, we had 300 clean. We set up tents, got plastic tub, my favorite tub, you wash, rinse, sanitize. 300. I'm going, we're never going to get done. I took a day. Sunday, we took off. Drove to Batesville. While I was driving, I was like, “I need a dishwasher machine.”
[0:42:23] GM: You could run the tiles. Yeah.
[0:42:25] PMR: We called Crep’s. They had one. I called Nav Holtz. I said, if I can get a commercial dishwasher, can you get it wired and ready in water? They're like, yeah. Monday, one rolls out there. It was the greatest day.
[0:42:39] KM: One of those squares would fit in one of those dishwashers?
[0:42:42] PMR: Oh, about six, because our –
[0:42:44] GM: Because they're little.
[0:42:44] PMR: Yeah.
[0:42:45] KM: They're small.
[0:42:46] PMR: They're this big.
[0:42:47] KM: Oh, so you stick them all on a dishwasher.
[0:42:49] PMR: Yeah. Run them through. Then you have to sanitize the palate that they came in on. Stack them up, and we stacked them the same way every time.
[0:42:59] KM: And sanitize the ground they were laying on.
[0:43:03] PMR: Then we'd roll them out. We kept a tally of the number of tiles, because I've always been told different numbers. There are 26,000 tiles on that.
[0:43:13] KM: Jiminy. That's a lot of dishwashing. Then a year later, 2020, COVID. These kids love routine. Like, when that friend doesn't show up, that guy that you were just talking about, she was upset when her buddy didn't show up. I mean, they love routine. What did COVID do to y'all?
[0:43:35] PMR: It was tough. We didn't play one season. Northwest Arkansas, one. We figured out a way, because that was in the spring and our season. We just didn't know. It was also new to everybody. We didn't know how to react to it. But we did play fall season.
[0:43:50] KM: You have two seasons. You have a spring and a fall season every year. Do you have something special coming up?
[0:43:56] PMR: We've got a fundraiser coming up. That'll be a lot of fun.
[0:43:59] KM: When is it and where is it?
[0:44:00] PMR: Okay. it's a Miracle League Burger Competition, and it is Sunday, the 27th. It's up in the Heights, on Kavanaugh. I'm really excited about it this year. We've got some amazing competitors coming. It's up the game. World Food Championship. This is a qualifying event for World Food Championship. Someone will win a golden ticket to go to Indianapolis and compete on a world stage. There were 20 countries represented last year.
[0:44:31] KM: It's chefs?
[0:44:32] PMR: Yes.
[0:44:33] KM: What restaurant is it doing? Or is it out in the street?
[0:44:35] PMR: It's out in the street.
[0:44:37] KM: Chefs are going to bring their grills, or whatever.
[0:44:39] PMR: Yes. Yeah.
[0:44:40] KM: Are going to bring their food trucks.
[0:44:41] PMR: No trucks. I give them asphalt on the street. They bring their tent, their grill, their tables, whatever they need to execute. It can be a home chef. It can be a chef. We are doing burgers across America this year, Sunday on Kavanaugh in the Heights. You get your ticket online. Go to miracleleaguear.com, hit up our Facebook. Follow us. You can get a $30 ticket and free beer. If you're not doing the beer, you get a $15 ticket. In the morning, the chefs will come in and competitors. We've got a dozen to 14. They will make five regular size burgers. We're stepping up our game, because I went to the final table two weeks ago in Bentonville and saw what they do. I'm going, I got to help our competitors get ready.
[0:45:33] KM: What's the final table?
[0:45:35] PMR: They first start here. They go to Indianapolis in October, compete. Last year, 1,200 chef and home cooks. We're at Indianapolis in a cooking arena from all over the world. When I was in Bentonville, there was a guy from Dubai. He won burger last year.
[0:45:52] KM: Oh, good for him.
[0:45:54] PMR: In Indi. Each category, seafood, beef, steak, pastry, whatever, all one, their winners came to Bentonville. It is so exciting for Arkansas, that number one, I have sent competitors in the burger category and they've – one guy two years ago got a perfect score.
[0:46:16] KM: Really?
[0:46:18] PMR: From our little street burger competition.
[0:46:19] KM: Remember who it was?
[0:46:20] PMR: Yeah.
[0:46:20] KM: Who?
[0:46:21] PMR: Aaron Bradshaw. Sissy's pup style truck out of Benton.
[0:46:24] KM: No kidding.
[0:46:25] PMR: Mm-hmm.
[0:46:26] GM: Cool.
[0:46:27] PMR: We do this also in Northwest Arkansas in the fall. But at World Food in Bentonville, there were 12. They all made a dish, six got cut. Those six went and had dinner at a high restaurant, high-end restaurant and chef owner. It was an Italian place and they have a Mozzarella bar. They had to recreate the dish he made. The next day, they come back, they have a bag of groceries. There's some ringer things in there. They create the dish. They live judge. The person comes in and presents their dish, explains how and what they did and why they did it. Then the judges give feedback. It goes from six to three. We have the number three person in the world going to be at our burger competition.
[0:47:23] GM: Yeah. That's so cool.
[0:47:26] KM: This is such a convoluted story.
[0:47:29] PMR: There's a lot apart –
[0:47:29] KM: I got to come just to figure all the parts out, now they move together.
[0:47:32] PMR: It is. You start here.
[0:47:36] KM: You start here, right here in Little Rock, Arkansas. You got a returning one that was number three last year. He is returning.
[0:47:40] PMR: No. Just two years ago. I mean, two weeks ago, I'm sorry. Two weeks ago, in Bentonville, this person won –
[0:47:47] KM: Number three.
[0:47:48] PMR: Number three in the world.
[0:47:50] KM: In the world.
[0:47:51] PMR: In the world.
[0:47:52] KM: I'm eating burgers. What day did we say this was?
[0:47:55] PMR: Sunday. Number one in the world to come a $150,000 check.
[0:48:00] GM: Sweet. It's a worthwhile competition, as well as fundraiser. Yeah.
[0:48:04] PMR: Yeah.
[0:48:04] KM: Not just notable.
[0:48:05] PMR: Gates open at 11.30. Go ahead and get your tickets.
[0:48:09] KM: Gray and I are going to come. We're making a commitment to each other. Hold us accountable.
[0:48:13] PMR: Yeah.
[0:48:14] GM: Neat.
[0:48:16] PMR: It's great.
[0:48:17] KM: You're a ball, a firecracker, ball of fire.
[0:48:21] PMR: She'll get it. She’ll get it.
[0:48:22] KM: I’ll get it in a minute. Is it Friday nights, Saturday nights at your field?
[0:48:27] PMR: We have five different, six, five different leagues.
[0:48:31] KM: At your field.
[0:48:31] PMR: Uh-huh. What we've been talking about is what everybody knows, where all the buddies are involved, you play side by side, etc. Some of our kids have grown up, some of our kids have a different skill set. We started AA. That's the first time that they use an aluminum bat. They use a T-ball, because it's got some weight. They start using a glove and they learn more about the game, how to play the game.
[0:48:54] KM: Those are for the more advanced students.
[0:48:56] PMR: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Then, we have AAA. AA, AAA plays on Friday night. We keep score. I would have never dreamed. We are making double plays, and I am not joking.
[0:49:10] KM: They're serious.
[0:49:11] PMR: They are serious and they've got skill and –
[0:49:14] GM: Cool.
[0:49:14] KM: They got game.
[0:49:16] PMR: They do. Darnell can catch something bouncer off balance in the air and get it first, double play like it's no big deal. Like he's always done it.
[0:49:26] KM: Really? What's his challenge?
[0:49:28] PMR: Brain injury.
[0:49:29] KM: Oh, but he can catch.
[0:49:31] PMR: He can do it all.
[0:49:32] KM: He can do it all.
[0:49:33] PMR: He's an amazing musician.
[0:49:34] GM: Cool.
[0:49:34] KM: Really?
[0:49:35] PMR: He writes lyric and song.
[0:49:38] GM: Very cool.
[0:49:39] PMR: Really cool. Then we have adults. Pathfinders and Easter Seals, those providers for adults, many of them work together and all of that. That's their home base. They played during the week, Tuesday, Thursday.
[0:49:56] KM: Do we go on your website to find out who's playing and what level it is and come out? If Gray and I are going to come out, which one should we come to? I do love little kids.
[0:50:05] PMR: You need to see. Some of our players on Saturday, they're 30, they're 40. Some of them couldn't move to AA, but they like the buddies. And so, they don't want to move.
[0:50:14] KM: When's the buddy system?
[0:50:16] PMR: Saturdays.
[0:50:18] KM: Saturdays. It says it on your website. What's your website?
[0:50:20] PMR: Miracleleaguear.com. Everybody should see Saturday and then catch a Ranger Yankee game.
[0:50:27] KM: What's that name?
[0:50:27] PMR: On Friday. Friday night. AAA. See the contrast. It's amazing. Major.
[0:50:35] KM: What do you mean a Ranger –
[0:50:36] PMR: Ranger and Yankees.
[0:50:37] KM: You mean, like a real game?
[0:50:39] PMR: No, the teams. Their team name is the Rangers and the Yankees.
[0:50:42] KM: From your miracle field.
[0:50:43] PMR: Yes.
[0:50:43] KM: Oh, okay. Come Saturday and watch the buddies and then come when?
[0:50:48] PMR: Friday.
[0:50:49] KM: Then come Friday and watch the ones that are more serious. Oh, that's a great –
[0:50:53] GM: Yeah, that sounds fun.
[0:50:54] KM: That sounds right. Come Saturday to see where they begin, and then come Friday to see where they're going to end up, if they want to.
[0:51:00] PMR: Yeah. The Ranger-Yankee game is one to see, because that's the AAA.
[0:51:03] GM: Cool. Okay. Neat.
[0:51:05] KM: I read this article about you from – You really have gotten a lot of publicity. It was a lot of info about you on the Internet. Inviting Arkansas opened this article, which is an apt proverb for you. It says, “Those who give generously receive more, will prosper, and be refreshed.” You're the youngest, whatever you are, 60-year-old, I guess, 70-year-old.
[0:51:34] GM: There you go.
[0:51:35] KM: You are.
[0:51:35] GM: Yeah. Y'all are peers, right?
[0:51:37] KM: Yeah. Those who give generously receive more, will prosper, and be refreshed. You said, the volunteers get more out of it than anybody. I think that's true. I've heard you say, this is your quote. “I'm the luckiest girl in the world for many reasons. I mean, LUCKY.” That's all capital letters. The Miracle League is one of the greatest components to that luck.
[0:52:00] PMR: Yup.
[0:52:02] KM: Peggy, I have really, really, really enjoyed visiting with you. We have you a gift.
[0:52:08] PMR: Oh.
[0:52:10] GM: It's right here in front of you.
[0:52:11] PMR: You didn't have to.
[0:52:12] KM: We did. We did. I want to tell the people, we've been speaking today with the Founder, the Executive Director of the Miracle League of Arkansas, a baseball field community and League of Children with disabilities. Peggy, this is your gift, because you're from Illinois. It's a desk set with the US flag, the Arkansas flag and your home –
[0:52:30] PMR: Oh, thank you.
[0:52:30] KM: And your birth home, Illinois.
[0:52:32] PMR: Thank you.
[0:52:33] KM: You're welcome.
[0:52:34] PMR: Thank you.
[0:52:37] KM: To our listeners, this show was recorded in the historical Taborian Hall in Downtown Little Rock, Arkansas and made possible by the good works of flagandbanner.com, Mr. Tom Wood, our audio engineer, Mr. Jonathan Hankins, our videographer, Miss Delora DeVore, production manager, and my co-host, Mr. Grady McCoy, the fourth, AKA son Gray.
To our listeners, we would like to thank you for spending time with us. We hope you've heard or learned something that's been inspiring, or enlightening and it, whatever it is, will help you up your business, your independence or your life. I'm Kerry McCoy, and I'll see you next time on Up in Your Business. Until then, be brave and keep it up.
[END OF INTERVIEW]
[0:53:26] GM: You've been listening to Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy. For links to resources you heard discussed on today's show, go to flagandbanner.com, select radio, and choose today's guest. If you'd like to sponsor this show or any show, contact me, gray@flagandbanner.com. All interviews are recorded and posted the following week. Stay informed of exciting upcoming guests by subscribing to our YouTube channel, or podcast wherever you like to listen. Kerry's goal is simple, to help you live the American dream.
[END]
