Elves, Santas, bunnies? Jingle jog takes over downtown

Over 30 joggers came out Saturday morning to help raise funds for the Louie Smith Memorial Fund.

The Jingle Jog, organized by members of the fund, included a three-fourths of a mile jog around downtown Poplar Bluff with a $20 registration fee that went toward the memorial fund.

The Louie Smith Memorial Fund was started three years ago to help keep the actions of former baseball couch and art teacher Louie Smith alive in Poplar Bluff.

“We make sure that every kid has the chance to play a sport no matter what,” member Seth Gragg said. “Whether they need a pair of cleats, they need a registration fee, a team needs a sponsorship and so on.”

This was the first run the organization has done and Gragg said he’s happy with the turnout and participation. It is an event the organization is hoping to turn into a tradition that will grow each year.

Runner Lance McLane said one of the memorial fund board members helped spread the word about the event.

“I just think it’s a great cause,” he said. “It’s three-fourths of a mile so it’s not too challenging to run and it was nice to not only donate and give back, but to participate as well.”

The Collins family — Blake, Mike and Grant — started the fund and Louie’s son Chris became the president of the organization.

“He (Louie) was the guy that if a kid needed a ride to practice, Louie would do that,” Gragg said. “If a team needed a coach, he would coach it. He even built a baseball field in his back yard because there wasn’t enough baseball fields for kids to play. He was that guy.”

The goal of the fund is to keep that spirit alive in the area. Gragg said they’re mostly in Southeast Missouri, but when they had the fund’s main fundraiser, A Homerun Derby, last year, there were batters from St. Louis, Jackson and Memphis, Tennessee. As a result, the reach is getting a little bigger, but still focused on the Poplar Bluff area.

This event was planned through a series of weekly meetings. Gragg said Lisa and Larry Hafford, the owners of Haffy’s Bar and Grill, were helpful with the event by hosting extra fundraisers and serving as the registration point for participants.

“We just wanted to help because of what they do for the kids,” Larry Hafford said. “With them and the Boys and Girls Club, we try to help out.”

“Anybody who’s going to help out underprivileged kids in our area is something we want to support,” Lisa Hafford added.

Gragg said there are things people wouldn’t really expect in planning this kind of event, such as talking with the street department to make sure they could host it downtown without blocking fire and police routes in case of an emergency.

“There’s a lot more to it than when you think ‘Oh, this should be easy. It’s going to be a run,’” he said. “It’s never that easy.”