Grab & Go Kids Sammamish-Issaquah: Opening Day for Little League, Family Fun Night, and More

Family Fun Night Benefit at : Eastlake High School senior Sierra Burnhamd and three friends created an auxiliary through Overlake Hospital to raise money for the Neonatal program and the new NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), which will care for premature and vulnerable babies born at Overlake. They made this auxiliary to not only raise money, but to raise awareness about this important cause. On April 14 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Sammamish Teen Center, they are hosting a Family Fun Night to try and raise $42,000 that will go towards buying a new Giraffe Bed for the new NICU. A Giraffe Bed is a bed with features built in specially for prematurely born babies. 

Opening Day Festivities for Eastlake Little League’s instructional baseball divisions will take place on Saturday, April 14 at and . Instructional baseball includes players from 5 to 8 years old playing T-Ball, A-Ball (first year coach pitch) and AA-Ball (second year coach pitch). 30 teams will participate in 16 games throughout the day.

As a part of the opening ceremony for each game, team rosters will be announced, the national anthem will be played, and a ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by a Sammamish politician or Sammi Award winner.

• 9 AM at McAuliffe Elementary: Four games with the ceremonial first pitch for each game thrown out by John James, Sammamish Deputy Mayor. 
• 11 AM at McAuliffe Elementary: Three games with the ceremonial first pitch for each game thrown out by Nathan Gelbrich, Sammi Award Winner. 
• 1:15 PM at Skyline High School: Two games with the ceremonial first pitch for each game thrown out by Tom Odell, Sammamish Mayor. 
• 3:15 PM at Skyline High School: Two games with the ceremonial first pitch for each game thrown out by Don Gerend, former Sammamish Mayor and current Councilmember. 
• 5:15 PM at Skyline High School: Two games with the ceremonial first pitch for each game thrown out by Jordan Lim, Sammi Award Winner.

This is the second year in a row that the Eastlake Little League has formalized the opening day events. Last year, Sammamish Council members John Curley and Tom Odell, as well as Sammi Award winners Josue Lopez and Keenon Kennedy, threw out first pitches. You can see a sampling of what last year’s events were like by watching this short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpGBmU_CNmo.

The Eastlake Little League girls' softball division will also hold Opening Day festivities for the 221 girls ages 5-14 who are playing on 21 teams this year.

There will be a ceremony Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the varsity softball field near the tennis courts. The ceremony will feature Christina Clarke, Miss Washington USA 2012, as the grand marshal. Christina is a past player from Eastlake's 1999 State Championship Little League team.

• Where/When: 2:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday, April 14, at .

• Why Go: Together with Studio East, the Norman Rockwell Elementary fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students present Just Another Day in Wonderland: The Story of Alice. Come and enjoy this hilarious retelling of the classic Lewis Carroll story this Saturday!
• Cost: Tickets are $6.

For great events for kids throughout the week, check out this rundown from the Sammamish & Issaquah Library Calendar.