A grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting was followed by the first Ben Lomond Park 3-on-3 basketball tournament Saturday, April 2, to celebrate the improvements to the park.
Team Ram Rod, made up of valley locals Josh Johnson, Kevin Lyons, Blake Bechtel and Jared Johnson, won the 10-team, double-elimination basketball tournament with a win over the Slugs, a team of students from University of California, Santa Cruz, captained by Sean Ruhland.
Santa Cruz County Parks recently completed a $400,000 upgrade to the park, including new play structures, a walking path, a new surface for the basketball court and other changes. The work was paid for by Proposition 40, the California Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks, and Coastal Protection Act of 2002. An estimated 100 people attended the grand opening, including Santa Cruz County Supervisor Mark Stone, who cut the ribbon, and Joe Schultz, head of Santa Cruz County Parks.
Basketball players in the tournament said they liked the high level of competition and expressed interest in seeing the tournament continue.
Ben Lomond Market and Coffee 9 donated food for the celebration, which was organized by Thomas Wynn, president of the San Lorenzo Valley Chamber of Commerce; Cristina James and Bob Olson of the parks department; and Peter Burke, editor of the Press-Banner. Other sponsors included Bay Federal Credit Union and The Card Shark. The day raised more than $600 for park beautification.
