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Baseball Fan Gets A Hero's Reward

By Zac Anderson, staff writer Northwest Florida Daily News

July 11, 2004 -- Tim Calvert grew up within home run distance of a ball field.  Raised by his mom in a single-parent household, Calvert learned to play the game of baseball with neighborhood children and by hanging around the church league games at the field in front of his house.

Although he was practically raised on a baseball diamond, the nearest professional team is at least a day's drive away from Calvert's Niceville home.  At 13, he's long past the age when most young boys are dazzled by the sites and sounds of their first pro game. 

But that day is fast approaching, and it won't be any ordinary trip to the ballpark.

When Calvert attends the July 17 game between the Atlanta Braves and the Montreal Expos, he'll sit in a luxury skybox and get to meet some of the pro players.

The special treatment might be Calvert's divine reward for waiting patiently for so long, but the people at Southern LINC, a regional communications company, had other good deeds in mind.

The company sponsored a contest called The Southern Heroes Award to acknowledge "the selfless acts of everyday heroes."

Calvert's mom, Diana Reese, saw a newspaper advertisement for the contest and thought her son fit the description.

For more than two years now, Calvert has spent many evening sorting and packaging school supplies to send to Iraq.  After the war broke out, Calvert and his family started what has come to be known as operation Iraqi Friendship. 

The group has collected more than $15,000 in school supplies and is still going strong. 

When school starts back up, Calvert and his sisters will pass out flyers and collection boxes will begin to fill again.

A mound of toys and crayons and notebooks will appear in the family's home and Calvert will spend many more hours putting packages together.

But on July 17, only one thing will be on the teenager's mind.

"He loves baseball," Reese said.  "It's exciting, his first major league game."

Reese surprised her son with the news recently.  Southern LINC left a telephone message and Reese was nearly crying as her son listened to the news with a shocked expression on his face.

"A lot of good things has come out of this," Calvert said of the contest.  "It's been great."

*In addition to the night at the Brave's game, Southern LINC made a $1000 donation to Operation Iraqi Friendship in Tim's name.  Tim would like to thank Southern LINC for selecting him as a Southern Hero and the wonderful experience at his first major league game.  Tim said meeting Brave's player, John Smoltz and having people tell him what a hero he is while attending his first pro game, was the experience of a lifetime and an experience he won't ever forget.  "The people at Southern LINC were so friendly and it was an honor to spend the evening with them at the Brave's game.  Since I grew up without a dad, the game was even more special for me because I got to sit next to the President of Southern LINC during the game who loves baseball as much as I do.  I will always remember this special night and thank the people at Southern LINC who made it happen and presented me with this honor!" Tim Calvert

To find out more about Southern LINC and the Southern Heroes Award visit www.southernlinc.com.

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