Tribe Caravan warms up Geneva
01/24/2006GENEVA, Ohio -- The road that winds north of Interstate 90 in the direction of the Geneva Lodge & Conference Center is literally littered with signs of summer.
Signs urging you to take the kids to Family Fun Mini-Golf.
Signs touting Eddie's Grill and its tempting promise of fresh lemonade.
Signs that point you to Sands Beachfront Motel.
But the surest sign of summer on this wintry Tuesday morning in this small resort town came in the form of the Indians Winter Caravan, which pulled up to the lodge for its annual Ashtabula County stop.
More than 400 fans packed the lodge's ballroom for a ballpark-style luncheon, Q&A presentation, autograph session and live auction benefiting the WFUN-AM scholarship fund.
A good portion of the crowd was comprised of little kids who no doubt faked a few coughs to get out of school for the sake of getting up close and personal with Tribe pitchers Cliff Lee and Rafael Betancourt, catcher Victor Martinez and hitting coach Derek Shelton.
Well, OK, some of the kids had excused absences. Take Steve Miller's kids, for example. The Ashtabula resident brought along his 12-year-old daughter, Julia, and 11-year-old son, Joe, to a special meet-and-greet, VIP session before the luncheon.
"I told the school [Julie and Joe] have to come with Dad today," Miller said.
Miller brings his kids to the event every year, and this year's event was particularly special, because Joe got to meet his favorite player, Martinez.
In fact, Martinez's participation was part of the reason this year's event sold out a week and a half before it took place. Fans in this area are excited about the team's 93-win season in '05, and they came here to show their support.
"Ashtabula County fans are passionate," said Dana Schulte, vice president and general manager of WFUN. "Last year's event sold out, but this year's sold out a week and a half in advance. It just shows the passion of the fans around here."
And with the threat of a snow storm rolling into town, who wouldn't be passionate about a reminder of the summer ahead?
Reminders were in abundance at the luncheon, during which waiters and waitresses dressed as vendors and handed out hot dogs, hamburgers, Cracker Jack bags, peanuts and popcorn.
The fans were also treated to a highlight video of clips from the '05 season, and Shelton told the crowd that the reel gave him goosebumps, even though it was the second time he had seen it in as many days.
"This was my first chance to do one of these [press tours]," Shelton said, "and I've just been taken back by the support we've seen."
Indeed, it seemed the road pointing to signs of summer was pretty accurate, after all.
Source: http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/
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