East Kootenay - The Home Run Society has taken the WMBL's conditional franchise to the next level, and today announced it's team name - 'the Cranbrook Eds'. The event held at McDonald's Restaurant, was highlighted by the unveiling of the logo that will be used in it's future marketing. The logo features a mascot style elephant holding a baseball bat in its trunk, wearing a vintage baseball cap circa 1926 when the story of 'Cranbrook Ed' unfolded.
'Ed' was one of the many circus elephants that escaped from the Sells Floto travelling circus that was passing through Cranbrook in 1926. Most of the elephants were caught soon after escaping, but 'Ed' remained elusive for weeks, finally being tracked and captured by Ktunaxa guides. The lost elephant story put Cranbrook on news headlines around the world, and left the region buzzing with excitement. The Sells Floto circus felt it only appropriate to re-name the elephant 'Cranbrook Ed' to honour the citizens who had supported their long effort to capture him.
"The story of the lost elephant was very compelling to our group, and we have been working on this marketing concept for a few years," said Garry Slonowski, President of the Home Run Society. "We felt that we wanted a concept that was unique in the sports marketing world, tied into local history, and reflected the long and storied past that baseball has in our region. We hope that over time, the community will embrace the Cranbrook Eds concept, and it will become an icon of our community."
"We also felt the need to move the concept forward at this time in order to help people envision what we are trying to bring to our community," continued Slonowski. "The WMBL is an established league, a high calibre of baseball, and great family entertainment. We believe this will be a wonderful addition to the activities that are available in our region during the summer months."
"The logo itself was created by Arthur Tank, owner of Wolfpack Signs and Printing, who already has many of the local sports teams identities accredited to his artistic talents. We always knew that Arthur was the person we wanted to create the logo, and we were very fortunate to have his incredible skills at our disposal. We are extremely pleased with how it turned out, and feel it captures what we are striving to achieve with our marketing."
The biggest barrier still facing Cranbrook is a WMBL-ready stadium. However, the Home Run Society has been working towards achieving this goal for a number of years, and is in the final stages of completing a feasibility study for a new baseball stadium.
The study, funded by the Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiatives Program, contracted GEC Architecture to design a scalable facility that would meet the needs of the City and Region for many years to come. GEC Architecture is well known for recreational facility design, with past achievements including the Olympic Saddledome in Calgary. The completed feasibility study is scheduled to be presented at the Monday February 7th City Council meeting, and will be released to the public shortly after.
Those interested in learning more about the Cranbrook Eds are encouraged to visit - www.CranbrookEds.com - where you can also sign up to receive announcements, including images of the proposed new stadium when they are released.