Police and fire departments will take to ballfield for charity tourney

The classic friendly rivalry between police officers and firefighters will take a charitable turn when employees of several local public safety agencies come together for a fundraising softball tournament.

The Battle of the Badges Tournament will be held Saturday, July 8, at the Clear Creek park and rec ballfields, 486 Clear Creek Road. The games will get started at 11 a.m. Gates open at 10 a.m.

The tournament will benefit two local Christmas outreach programs for children — the Ellijay Police Foundation’s Shop With a Hero and the Ellijay-Gilmer Firefighters Kids Christmas.

“This is the first one they’ve ever done. It actually started out as just a friendly softball game just to get us together, but it spawned into way to raise some money for the kids,” said Capt. Ray Grace, of the Ellijay Police Department.

“We thought, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it to benefit our community. That’s how the charities came to be involved with it,” said Gilmer firefighter/EMT Emerald Goble, one of the tournament’s organizers.

The police team will include personnel from any of the three local law enforcement agencies (Ellijay and East Ellijay Police and the Gilmer Sheriff’s Office), while the firefighter team will include Gilmer Fire and Rescue and Ellijay firefighters. Employees of affiliated agencies like the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and state fire marshal’s office have also been invited to participate, Goble noted.

The goal is for each team to number 25-31 players, and the tourney will be played in best two out of three games format.

“All three games will be fire department versus law enforcement. They will alternate players, which will be up to the coaches or team captains. The winner will get a trophy and a year’s worth of bragging rights. We are hoping that this will become an annual thing,” said Goble.

Employees of the two first responder groups often work side by side in emergency situations. For this occasion, they will compete with the shared goal of raising money for the two programs, which also share the same goal — providing Christmas gifts and memorable experiences for local kids.

“We will all be there to support these charities,” Goble said. “This is meant to be a fun thing, but, of course, being fire versus police, it will also be competitive between them. It’s not often that the two different sides are able to get together outside of running calls together.”

For the Firefighters Kids Christmas, employees of both the city and county fire department raise money throughout the year to buy gifts, including toys and clothing. Just before the Christmas school break, they hand-deliver the gifts to local elementary schools for distribution.

“As far as we’re concerned, everything comes from Santa Claus,” said Mike Dempsey, Gilmer Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief.

The Shop With a Hero program targets an older age group and focuses on children who need an extra pick-me-up during the Christmas season. Last year, 82 third-to-fifth grade students were taken on a special shopping trip to the East Ellijay Walmart, where they received gift cards to shop for whomever they wished while accompanied by a first responder.

  “It could be a kid who’s recently lost a parent, or whose parents recently got divorced. It could be a kid who’s been bullied or who’s been struggling (in school),” said GBI agent Renea Green, a Shop With a Hero coordinator.

All of the Battle of the Badges proceeds, including the $5 admission price (kids 10 and under are free), concession and lunch plate sales and donations, will be split 50/50 between the two Christmas programs. The event is open to the public, and it will feature various kids’ activities including a public safety touch-a-truck.

“We’re hoping we will have a good turnout for these charities. I know for me, it makes my heart happy knowing that all these kids get Christmas because of all the things that both sides do,” Goble said.