Dear Friends,
What a year!
When we first bought this team, we set out to change the culture around the ballpark and return this team back to its rightful owners - you, the greatest fans in the country.
Since then, we have steadily increased both attendance and corporate participation, and moved significantly closer toward our goal of making Modern Woodmen Park the central gathering place for this wonderful and diverse bi-state community - a one-of-a-kind place to gather with friends, family, and coworkers across the region for affordable, family-friendly entertainment and lots of good, clean fun.
But this year, despite leading the league in rainouts, bitter cold weather in April and terrible flooding in late June and early July which left our parking lots and portions of our ballpark underwater, you helped us set the all-time per-game attendance record for Quad Cities! This year's average of 3,885 people per-game is the highest ever for the Quad Cities franchise - and our ballpark dates back to 1931!
Your tremendous, unwavering support is at once both humbling and energizing - humbling because we are so grateful to you for choosing to spend your summer evenings with us over and over again. And energizing because your support inspires us to aim still higher, achieve new heights, and do even more to keep Modern Woodmen Park what USA Today rightly called the "best minor league ballpark in America."
We were thrilled for this great community to win that award. But we will never rest on our laurels. Instead, we became the first team in the country to open a Ferris wheel inside a minor league ballpark. We also unveiled two new rides - "Space Camp" and the Mediacom "Drop'N Twist" - and extended our zip-line to 300 feet! Now, with the ballpark open every weekend all summer long for amusements, more than 65,000 people have enjoyed a ride on one of our fun attractions.
Our success has also given us more opportunities to give back. This year, we gave $50,000 to the Genesis Health Services Foundation to fund neo-natal intensive care services and free flu shots for those in need. And, through our unmatched Bandit Scholars program, our club paid the tuition of three outstanding young students who aspired to attend college in our community. Their first year's tuition ... covered. All told, we gave away nearly $240,000 in cash and merchandise - all within the Quad Cities.
That's what giving back means to us.
Please accept our gratitude for your enthusiastic support all season long. We are already making plans for new additions and improvements to the ballpark, including renovated bathrooms throughout the concourse and two new deck areas, for 2015, so we will not be sitting still. After all, both on and off the field, the River Bandits will never stop improving. Because we belong to you, the people of the Quad Cities, and we're a perfect fit: a championship team playing before the country's greatest fans in the nation's best minor league ballpark!
From us, and on behalf of everyone who's a part of the River Bandits, thank you.
Sincerely,
Dave Heller Bob Herrfeldt
Owners, Quad Cities River Bandits
