There may be nothing more American than the opening day of baseball season and there may be nothing more Wimberley than this year’s Wimberley Youth Sports Association opening ceremony for the spring season, which was capped off by honoring four generations of the local Gold family.
The ceremony was held on Saturday at Sonny Gold Ballpark, next to the Wimberley VFW grounds.
Jared Robinson, with WYSA, called each team’s name, allowing the young players to run onto the field. The crowd welcomed the players and they were met by a tunnel of arms formed by the Wimberley High School baseball and softball players.
Five Golden Hook awards were given out at the event. The fishing hook was chosen to honor Sonny Gold, who the ballpark is named after. Among many other things, Gold was a long-time Justice of the Peace in Wimberley. He and his wife Laurel owned the Dinner Bell restaurant that eventually became Cypress Creek Cafe. They were also instrumental in the creation of Wimberley ISD and Wimberley EMS. Sonny was known to wear a fishing hook on his ball cap, which is the inspiration for the award that was given to five individuals who have gone above and beyond in their support of youth sports. The five honored were Nichole Ables, Clay Harris, Jesse Brown, Nick Swinea and Ryan Browning.
At the conclusion of the opening ceremony, JoJo Gold, son of Sonny Gold, was welcomed to the field. JoJo was a long-time youth sports coach and member of WYSA’s predecessor the Hill Country Recreation Association. With his son Todd watching from the outfield as a coach, JoJo threw out the first pitch to his grandson Bowie to mark the beginning of the season and another generation of Golds stepping on the field in Wimberley.
