Port Arthur Nationals Little League

On Tuesday, Oct 27, Alexander (Sandy) Frost better know to all of us as “FROSTY”, went into cardiac arrest and sadly, medical staff could not revive him. Sandy's passing is a shock to us all, but the loss to his wife Karen, his daughter Tanis and his son Tyson and grandchildren Marcee, Leah and Chloe is an unbearable pain they will carry with them the rest of their lives. Those of us with the PANLL will miss him dearly and want to pass on our condolences on behalf of our league to his family. We will be forever grateful for his volunteer service to all our young players, many of whom are now coaches with young families.

For the Port Arthur Nationals, the loss is difficult to comprehend and it's safe to say, that Sandy's loss is a blow to us all. Sandy was one of a kind with a generous heart and a loud bark that was more of a meow once you got to know him. He truly exemplified all that is good about Little League and was a true advocate for the PANLL. Sandy believed every child had the “right to play,” regardless of their family's financial circumstances—a principle our league continues to uphold, and under his leadership we became a member of Pro-Kids at the earliest opportunity and 28 years later we are still a proud member of Pro-Kids.

To say Sandy was the “Heart and Soul” of the PANLL would truly be an understatement because since the early 1990's Sandy filled many roles with the PANLL from coach, equipment manager, field maintenance, and president. For years, his garage served as the league's equipment storage space!

In many of those years he served multiple roles on the board because we lacked volunteers. In the fall of 1996, a small group of PAN supporters were faced with a board that planned to resign on mass with Sandy and Ed being the only board members to agree to stay on. That evening, after much discussion between two childhood friends, a deal was forged and a commitment made that would last over 30 years. Sandy would stand for the president's position, and I would stand for the V.P, although Sandy had one condition, that I manage all the league paperwork, and he would look after the fields. Lol As we all know, Sandy had an aversion to paperwork.

He took great joy in grooming the fields and always said "the kids must play on safe fields” a role he truly cherished. For me, being VP allowed me to coach, so it was a fair exchange between two good friends. Under little league rules of the time the position of league president was not permitted to coach. That evening Sandy was voted in as president, me as VP, Ed Aleksijan as Secretary and Lassi Tuomialho as Treasurer with a full slate of convenors and other positions.

From that day on, Sandy took on the role of leader and as a board and league we have never looked back.

In 2000, with the help of many community leaders, sponsors, and the Port Arthur Kinsmen a raw idea became a reality and under Sandy's leadership we initiated and completed the construction of our current building at GBP in 2001.

What many of you may not know is that after putting in a long shift at Northern Woods, he would drive to GBP for 3:30 and put in another 3 hours dragging and grooming the fields, ensuring our teams had safe and well-groomed fields to play on. I am sure many of you witnessed that force of nature dragging the diamonds on a dry hot summer day. There were times you couldn't see his truck from the dust cloud that surrounded him and his truck. Sandy was hard working and simply could not stand on the sidelines when work at GBP had to be done. He was always the first to say “let's get to it” and the first to stick his shovel into whatever work was required. In our annual meetings with the city, Sandy advocated for improvements to our fields.

Sandy was a loyal and dedicated volunteer for the PAN and that commitment never wavered even after 40 years of service to PANLL baseball. Recently, he determined that he was going to repair all the low spots/dips/holes on all four fields, even though he knew the low spots and uneven playing sections of the fields would return to the same condition in the spring because of the poor drainage. Despite our collective efforts to persuade him otherwise, we could not deter him from embarking on this work, and today if you go by GBP, you will see all the brown earth patches topping the low lying arears on the fields. Yes, stubbornness was also one of his more forceful characteristics!

Sandy leaves behind a legacy of community service, hard work, dedication, and determination - characteristics we should all aspire to. His hard work contributed to the many improvements at GBP baseball complex, a foundation the next generation of players, coaches and board members can build on.

We can all honour Sandy by following his example of service to our young people and our community at large. We are all blessed to have known him and wish him God Speed. Rest in peace my friend.

-Frank Gatto