On August 30th, 2019, the Ray Richardson Show, WLOB Radio and the Portland Seadogs teamed up for the 15th time to honor those who have served our nation in uniform. For 15 years, these three entities have provided free tickets to those who have served our nation in uniform and their families. As we all know, when a loved one is serving our country, the family serves right along with them.
The idea began during the early stages of the latest Iraq War. It was an opportunity to honor all our Veterans and to remind everyone that there were brave men and women sacrificing daily for our nation and its people.
We have given out thousands of tickets for this annual event over the last 15 years and we are grateful to all our sponsors over the years for helping make this happen. Many of our Veteran families have attended the game for years. Some have made all 15 years and we are so grateful to them for sharing their time with us.
This year, we added a live broadcast of my show in the hours just before game time. It was a great opportunity to celebrate and honor our Veterans. It also provided a wonderful chance to highlight the city of Portland and the amazing Portland Sea Dogs. We are very appreciative of the relationship we have with the Sea Dogs and their commitment to making Portland America’s best small city.
There have been some incredible stories that have emerge over the years from this game. One of my favorites is about a family who requested 15 tickets one year. This family made custom shirts just for the game. They took a photo in front of the Slugger the Sea Dog statue located just as you walk into the stadium and sent it to me. There were 14 people in the photo and the wife of a deployed soldier was holding his shirt up so he would be included, even though he was not actually there.
Many months later, one of our sponsors wanted to do some biography work on a few of the Veterans who attend the game for their monthly publication. They assigned a young woman to do the research and she reached out to me for the details.
Once her work was completed, after a few months, I invited her on my talk show to let her share what she had learned. I knew she would be able to share some incredible stories. I simply did not realize how incredible.
Bob Witkowski
After appearing on my show, her Mother-in-law called her and told her what a good job she had done. They small talked a little and she realized that the research work she had been doing was about the same game that she and her family had attended the year before. She had not put the two together prior to their conversation.
As it turns out, she was the woman in the photo of the 14 family members, holding up the shirt that recognized her husband, who was deployed at the time. When she ended her call, she called me immediately and told me it was her family. Unbeknownst to her, I had shared that story several times on air.
Her husband was now home from his deployment. I called him and asked that he throw out the first pitch at our Veterans’ game that year. Talk about a small world – God does work in mysterious way.
At this year’s game, two wonderful Veterans threw out our ceremonial first pitches. Both guys served in the Navy.
Pete McVety grew up in Southwest Harbor Maine. He graduated from Maine Maritime Academy. He flew for 20 years in the Navy, as an FA-18 fighter pilot. Pete also spent some time in the Navy at the Pentagon (he was there on 9/11). Retiring after 20 years, Pete spent some more time at the Pentagon as a civilian (middle east policy, Iraq and Afghanistan). Pete left DC in 2010 and moved back to Maine. Pete and his wife Susan bought the stove business, now known as McVety’s Heart and Home.
Phil Spiller is a long time Westbrook Maine resident and Westbrook High School graduate, class of 1991. He graduated from Cornell University with Degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Management and served 10 years of active duty in the Navy. During his time as a Captain and Pilot in the Navy, he served as an Aircraft Commander, Mission Commander and Pilot Instructor. After leaving active duty, he continued in the Navy reserves while working as Captain for jetBlue.
I know these gentlemen personally and cannot say enough great things about them. They represent the reason we do this game each year, to honor and thank our humble Veterans and their families for the sacrifice they make and made to keep our nation safe, free and strong.
WLOB Radio, the Ray Richardson Show and the Portland Sea Dogs appreciate the service our members of the military have provided and still do provide to our country. We look forward to year 16 and the new stories it will provide. THANK YOU!
Ray Richardson is the host of the Ray Richardson Show on WLOB Radio. He has authored three books, written a newspaper column for over a decade and is a contributor to Richardson Magazine.
Ray lives with his wife of 34 years, Dee Dee, in Westbrook Maine. They have four grown children (8 when you count the spouses), and blessed with one granddaughter.
