Lynda Pfeiffer steps down as Fair baseball, softball tourney director

The Monroe County Fair Baseball Tournament recently crowned a winner for the 64th time.

Thousands of players, coaches and fans have enjoyed the event during more than six decades, but just three people have carried the title of tournament director.

Carl Cousino got it started in 1960 before handing the reins to his former assistant and scorekeeper Jim Kitchen in 1982.

Lynda Pfeiffer was called on when health issues forced Kitchen to step aside in 2017 then became the full-time director in 2019.

Now, another era has ended.

Pfeiffer, 72, announced after the recently completed tournament that she will not return next summer.

Her retirement comes after the youngest of her nine grandchildren played his final game in the Fair Tournament.

More: Monroe National tops Ash-Carleton in finals of Fair Baseball tourney

More: South Rockwood extends dynasty in Monroe County Fair Softball tournament

“It was time,” Pfeiffer said.

It is fitting that Pfeiffer’s tenure as tournament director ends with the end of the playing career for her grandchildren.

She has truly turned the tournament into a family affair.

Pfeiffer’s journey began many years ago when she and her husband Dave began coaching youth teams in Monroe.

“I played (softball),” she said. “I got kind of tired about younger girls coming up and asking me questions. They didn’t know the rules. I thought, ‘You’ve got to learn the fundamentals and the rules.’”

She and Dave started coaching their son’s teams, then started leading girls softball teams.

Eventually, the couple discovered the Fair Tournaments.

“It was exciting to see these kids from all the different communities,” she recalled. “I’ve lived here since the third grade, but I didn’t know much about Monroe County.”

She and Dave coached one boys team at the Fair and many girls softball teams.

“The Fair was a big deal back then,” Lynda said.

Before long the Pfeiffers were asked to take a more active role in the Fair Tournaments.

“I was still coaching girls teams and the they said they needed some coach’s opinions and asked us to be on the committee,” Lynda said. “Dave said, ‘What do we have to do?’ They said, ‘Basically nothing. We just need some input.’

“Well, we started doing a little more and a little more.”

The Pfeiffers started working field maintenance, then were instrumental in construction of the Fairgrounds Diamond behind the Monroe County Drain Commission offices off S. Raisinville Rd.

The new site for the tournament, sometimes called the Field of Dreams, was finished in time for the 2001 tournaments.

Dave passed away in 2014, but plenty of other family members stepped up to help Lynda.

Through the years, her sons Brian, Randy and Eric, their wives Jenny, Roxanne and Lori and grandchildren Micheala, Regan, Caleb, Josh, Trent, Aiden, Blake, Grant and Harley all have worked at the Faigrounds Diamond.

“I am glad they stuck with me,” Lynda said. “I am sure some of them said, ‘Oh no, we have to go out there again.’”

Her sons and six of the grandchildren have played in the tournaments.

Lynda is modest about her accomplishments at the Fair.

“I just hope everyone had a good time,” she said.

Others say she is one of the main reasons the tournaments are still a fixture of summer in Monroe County.

“Lynda has been great as a tournament director,” said Steve Drummond, who has coached South Rockwood to the last four softball titles. “Every year the fields look great, the expectations are clear and they help put on a great show for the kids and parents.”

“I don’t know all of what is involved but it always goes very smoothly,” added Matt Wszelaki, who coached Monroe National to the baseball championship this year. “People want to come back. Whatever she is doing is working.”

Both coaches also gave credit to the family members who help.

“They always keep the field in great shape and are very polite,” Wzelaki said. “Day in and day out, they step up to the plate.”

“If the weather is bad, they will do their best to get the fields ready because the show must go on,” Drummond said.

The show will go on in 2024 with Scott Beard and Dave Peters as the new directors.

“The Fair found them,” Lynda Pfeiffer said. “I’ve been kind of looking to get out for three years now.”

She plans to meet soon with the new directors to help with the transition.

“I’ll tell them what I did and they can use it if they want,” she said.

Lynda won’t be the director any more, but the Fair Tournaments always will be in her blood.

“I am sure there will be some withdrawal pains,” she said. “I probably won’t feel it until it rolls again next summer.”

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Lynda Pfeiffer steps down as Fair baseball, softball tourney director