Yankee Trails

01 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 The Villages ® Community yankeetrails.com | 352.633.4643 lifelong Red Sox fan, Art has fond memories of tak- ing the train to Cleveland with his father to see his first Red Sox games in the early 1940's. When he couldn't see The Sox play live, Art made a habit of listening to games under the covers in his room on his family's small radio set. "It got to the point where I was going through three batteries a week and had to come clean about what I was doing with my mother," he said with a smile. "From then on out, I had to be careful about re- membering to turn off the radio before I fell asleep." After a successful 30-year career as a schoolteacher, Art moved to The Villages, where he started the local Red Sox Nation club. The idea was a resounding success from the start. "We had an overwhelming turn out at our very first meeting," Art said. "People were parked on the lawn, and blocking the streets." Since then, demand to join the Red Sox Nation of the Villages Club has not waned. Incredibly, the club, now at 1300 members, holds the distinction of being the largest Red Sox Nation Club in the world. While the group's primary focus is on baseball, they do support other New England sports teams includ- ing the Bruins and Patriots. Red Sox Nation frequently takes bus trips to see sporting events in Tam- pa, as well as the Red Sox's spring training facility in Fort Myers. Being the world's largest Red Sox Nation Club does have its perks as well. One of Art's primary respon- sibility as the club's president is to bring in speakers for the group's meetings, and he has risen to the challenge in a big way. In recent years, Red Sox Nation of the Villag- es has been visited by the likes of Red Sox legends Pedro Martinez, Luis Tiant and Rico Petrocelli, Um- pire Joe West, Boston Globe col- umnist Dan Shaughnessy as well as several members of the Red Sox organizations front office. "I have an autograph book, that I always have the visitors sign," Art said. "The front section is reserved for Hall of Famers." Not simply content rubbing elbows with sports heroes and taking in live games, Red Sox Nation of the Villages club also engages in sever- al charitable activities as well. The group sponsors a local little league's Red Sox team, and has made signif- icant efforts to support the Helping Hands Food Pantry as well. In ad- dition, the club takes part in a pro- gram that collects and refurbishes old sneakers, which are then sent overseas to be given to the needy. The group receives one dollar per sneaker, and has used the mon- ey to buy new basketball hoops and uniforms for local schools. It is clear that Red Sox Nation of the Villages having a lot of fun, and making a real beneficial difference in the community. We at Yankee Trails look forward to continuing to get to know this incredible organi- zation, along with the rest of The Villages' amazing clubs. A We at Yankee Trails continue to be amazed by the incredible number of fun, creative clubs and organizations within The Villages community. This month, we had the chance to sit down with Art Plant, the President of Red Sox Nation of The Villages. Club of the Month: Red Sox Nation of The Villages If you'd like your group to be considered for a future article, contact Mike Rogers at mrogers@yankeetrails.com

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