In front of the Kettleers store, there were bountiful goodies-- themed baskets, gift cards to local restaurants, a signed Kettleers team bat, Worcester Red Sox tickets, a Kettleers VIP package, and free golf.
All of them were up for grabs at the 2024 silent auction.
This year's silent auction proceeds will go to the Don Lesieur Intern Scholarship, a new scholarship to honor Lesieur, the previous Kettleers internship coordinator. The auction and scholarship was the idea of Cotuit Athletic Association board member and current internship coordinator Leah Ridpath.
“Leah had talked about doing a scholarship for Don Lesieur at a couple of our board meetings in the past, and it never really took off,” said gameday intern supervisor and board member Scott Hill. “Then when we went into housing this year because we like to house interns. We started to realize how incredibly expensive it is on Cape Cod and we wanted to try to help.”
Lesieur developed the internship program into what it is today in Cotuit, regarded as one of the best in the Cape League.
“Don Lesieur was the head of the intern program for a long time prior to Scott and I taking over and he was instrumental in building up the program,” said Ridpath. “He was an incredible guy-- very knowledgeable, very smart, interns loved him, a very sweet guy who gave a lot to our community. We wanted to honor him, particularly after he had passed away.”
Lesieur, who started volunteering for the team in 2016, passed away in April at 88. He previously was the president of the Orleans Firebirds and volunteered for Cotuit after moving from Orleans to Mashpee. Besides being on the board, Lesieur hosted players for both Cotuit and Orleans.
The Don Lesieur Scholarship will start taking applications this fall for interns in Cotuit for the 2025 season.
“We still have some of the details to iron out. This is just the starting point for us developing the scholarship,” said Ridpath. “This fall, we will create criteria and a way to apply to apply for the scholarship. Then, we’ll put it out to the colleges that we often have pipeline referrals from and we’ll probably try to include the family in the process. The money will help defray the cost for people to come to the Cape and work as an intern.”
The money from the silent auction will help fund the scholarship for the first year. The Kettleers did auctions previously but stopped during the pandemic. Ridpath thought this year was a great opportunity to bring them back, saying it was a good fit with the scholarship.
Marketing intern Ryan Anderson organized the silent auction, collecting donations of items from various local and state businesses.
“I thought about who our fans are, what they would enjoy, and what would sell well with the team,” said Anderson. “A lot of stuff is community-related and stuff around here-- so I got a bunch of gift cards from Osterville, Mashpee, Falmouth, and a bunch of baseball stuff too.”
The money raised will help a future intern be able to spend their summer at a great organization, and possibly jumpstart a great career. The Cotuit Kettleers would not exist without its interns and volunteers like Lesieur.
Photo by Dennis Theoharidis (Mass. College of Art & Design).
