Gate City Grays, owners continue season of giving with second fundraiser event approaching
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POCATELLO — Gate City Grays owners Terry and Erica Fredrickson love baseball. While the sport was on hiatus in 2020, the couple sat together at the dinner table talking about games from the past.
They also love the Pocatello community, constantly looking for ways throughout the year to give back.
And if there is two things the fall and winter months needs a little more of, it’s baseball and giving. Just ask Terry.
It all began in 2020, after COVID-19 forced baseball to the bench for a year. Terry began receiving messages from fans as the country began to reopen. Those fans were letting Terry know that they missed baseball — that they missed the Grays.
So the Fredricksons organized a get together.
“It was just us saying, ‘hey, even though there’s no baseball, we miss you,'” Terry said.
And they figured, if they were going to get their extended Grays family together in the fall, why not have a cause.
That first year, Terry got in touch with Barrie’s Ski & Sports and donated to their “Cranksgiving” event. Since, the Grays have gone out on their own for “Graysgiving,” finding programs to raise funds for.
This year, as has become the tradition, Grays fans met at Pocatello’s Sacajawea Park and traveled the path around the park.
“Since 2020, it’s turned into a fairly good event,” Terry said before this year’s Graysgiving. “A lot of Grays fans get together in November — we walk, bike, hike, whatever … just hang out.”
All proceeds from the event went to Chubbuck Lions Club, for their Special Needs Christmas Dinner.
But the Grays family isn’t done. Another event — Bowling for Santa, in partnership with the Bannock Civitan Club — is coming up, on Dec. 7 at Pocatello’s Tough Guy Lanes.
Keep an eye on the Gate City Grays’ Facebook page — here — for details about the Bowling for Santa event.
Not long after that, beginning in early January, Terry and Grays manager Rhys Pope will begin the recruiting process and building a roster for the 2025 season.
But that is not to say the Fredricksons will not be out looking for causes to throw their support behind. They are always searching for ways to forge deeper bonds amongst a community that is built on baseball but thrives on so much more.