AMENIA — It was the End of the Season Celebration for the Webutuck Little League on Saturday, June 7, and the players were undeterred by a little rain.
The planned games were rained out, but as coaches and parents manned the grill under the pavillion at Beekman Park, an enthusiastic band of Little Leaguers grabbed bats and balls and gloves and headed for the diamond. Some were already in uniform and were ready to ‘play ball.’
It was player-pitch time, sans coaches. A few parents and grandparents wandered out from the pavilion to watch the action. Soggy as it was, the young ball players showed off some highly developed skills as pitches came, and balls flew out of the infield.
Matt Deister, right, and Aaron Howard dish out ice cream on Saturday, June 7, in Beekman Park in Amenia at the End of the Season Celebration.Photo by John Coston
One batter scored after getting in a rundown pickle between second and third, and at his next at-bat he managed a homerun.
One grandmother noted that this was just like the old days, when youngsters, sent out to play, would organize their own sandlot games. Without grown-up coaches at first and third and calling from the dugout, it was a scene reminiscent of The Little Rascals’ movie-shorts a century ago that included baseball skits.
After a few plays, which revealed how much the players had learned over the season — such as how to anticipate what to do if the ball comes to you, or being ready to cover for a sudden gap in the infield — one player yelled out that hamburgers and hotdogs were ready.
That led to a brief pause in play, and a respite that included ice cream in cups dished out by Matt and Jessica Deister, president and secretary of the Webutuck Little League.
A runner gets trapped between second and third, but makes it home. Photo by John Coston
DJ Reilly, a past president who this year was a T-ball coach and an occasional umpire, stood at the back of Beekman Park pavilion next to a counter top of bubble-wrapped trophies.
“This is great,” he said, looking over the gathering of families and children on a rainy Saturday, “we’ve come a long way. And it takes a lot to do something like this.”
In 2023, after extensive effort by volunteer parents, the league became officially affiliated with the Little League Baseball nonprofit organization based in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the United States and the world.
A few games are left before the season ends, and coaches will distribute trophies at game time.
Saturday’s celebration was planned rain or shine.
“We had no choice,” Jessica Deister said. “Tomorrow is the fishing derby.”
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Growing up in the Bronx, Hearn was captivated whenever she saw horses. Her grandfather, a Korean War veteran, had cared for military horses during the war. After returning home, he struggled with addiction, and the invisible wounds of military service. Through every difficult chapter of his life, however, one thing consistently brought him peace.
“Horses bring peace,” he told his granddaughter.
When Hearn was 11, after years apart, Hearn and her grandfather began spending weekends riding together. Less than a year later, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Before he died, he asked family members to help buy Hearn’s first horse — a stubborn paint horse that bit, kicked and frequently threw her off. She wanted to sell him. Her father refused.
“Every life has value,” he told her.
Looking back, Hearn says that lesson became the foundation of everything she would later build.
What began as a boarding stable in 2003 took a different direction after the Dutchess County SPCA asked Hearn to care for horses seized in cruelty cases. She soon realized that although Dutchess County had one of New York’s largest horse populations, there was no dedicated nonprofit equipped to care for neglected and abused horses. Lucky Orphans officially became a nonprofit in 2008.
Some of the more than 40 horses at Lucky OrphansProvided
Today, Hearn is quick to point out that Lucky Orphans is not simply a rescue.
“We’re a sanctuary,” she said.
Many of the more than 40 horses living there arrive with broken bones, chronic illnesses, heart conditions, missing eyes or other injuries that make them unsuitable for riding or adoption. Rather than rehabilitating and rehoming them, Lucky Orphans makes a lifetime commitment to every horse.
In 2013, Hearn became certified in equine-assisted psychotherapy, combining her lifelong relationship with horses and the lessons she learned from her grandfather to create programs for veterans, trauma survivors, children and families facing emotional challenges. The transformations she witnesses continue to surprise her. She recalls one woman who arrived convinced she would not fit in with a group of strangers. During the session, a horse quietly chose to follow her without a rope or commands. For the first time in years, the woman said she felt truly seen.
Another memory has stayed with Hearn ever since. A teenager in a juvenile probation program, wearing an ankle monitor and struggling with anger, entered a round pen with a horse. As his frustration grew, the horse moved farther away. When he finally calmed himself, the horse walked directly toward him and rested its head against his chest.
“I told him, ‘If you can control your energy, you can control the world around you,’” Hearn said.
Stories like these sustain her through the difficult realities of running a nonprofit. Operating the sanctuary costs roughly $52,000 each month, and Hearn lives on the property, where the work never truly ends. Veterinary bills, staffing, fundraising and the daily care of dozens of horses are constant concerns. Then someone returns years later and tells her that the horses changed their child’s life.
“That’s why I keep going,” she said.
Looking ahead, Hearn hopes more people discover what makes Lucky Orphans unique. The organization is expanding its community programming with educational visits, yoga sessions, horse encounters, volunteer opportunities and family events designed to reconnect people with horses and with one another.
Her vision is simple: to create a place where people slow down, reconnect and remember something modern life often makes us forget. If horses could speak, Hearn believes they would offer just one piece of advice.
“They’d tell us to slow down,” she said.
After spending an afternoon at Lucky Orphans, it’s hard to disagree.
For more information or to plan a visit, go to luckyorphans.org
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