Here is the picture of my dad, George Schild (right), and Al Preston, founder of Lefty Grove Little League Baseball in Norwalk, Ohio.The League is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Little League program in Norwalk. Schild's IGA SuperCenter is the only continuous sponsor over those 50 years.

Lefty Grove was a great pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox during the 1920s and 1930s. He is enshrined at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. He lived in Norwalk for a number of years and came to the IGA every day. Lefty would sit in our break room and smoke cigars, telling of his experiences pitching against Babe Ruth and all the great players of that era. George Schild became a close friend of Lefty and took him to Cooperstown for many consecutive years until he died in 1975.

George Schild was a great left-handed pitcher locally and pitched in the minor leagues of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Detroit Tigers until Uncle Sam called him for duty in World War II. He served under General George Patton's Sixth Armor Division. He fought in five battles, including the Battle of the Bulge and Bastogne. He was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor.

We are proud to remember these two fine men.