Dedication of Craig Counsell Park Will Be Held Saturday Morning

A ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday morning to dedicate the park formerly known as Water Tower Park to Whitefish Bay native Craig Counsell, who from a 19-year major league baseball career last year.

Counsell grew up in Whitefish Bay, playing Little League in and for the Whitefish Bay Blue Dukes at , where his old number 19 is hung on the fence by home plate.

Counsell will be at the ceremony and will help Village President Julie Siegel unveil a new park sign. The Village Board to rename the park Craig Counsell Park after a suggestion was made by a village resident.

Whitefish Bay Little League President Josh Levy will also dedicate a new flag pole in honor of Tom Rice, a founder of the Little League complex, .

Rice was a dedicated coach and sponsor of the Whitefish Bay Little League in the 1970s and 1980s. When Milwaukee Gear Company no longer allowed the league to play games on their field at Lydell Avenue and Henry Clay St., Rice spearheaded a group seeking permission to use the land at the north end of Lydell Avenue for a new ballpark.

With the help of the Whitefish Bay Jaycees, Rice organized fundraisers to pay for the construction of a new field. The funds raised covered the cost of a backstop, fencing, dugouts, a storage building and infield maintenance. The park was dedicated on June 6, 1977.

The dedication ceremony will also feature the Brewers' famous racing sausages, as well as possible appearances from Brewers front office staff and Counsell's former teammates.

Overflow parking will be allowed at the at 6255 N. Santa Monica Blvd