Lakevold Lane is paved with memories of a St. Albert family synonymous with the St. Albert Minor Baseball Association.
Friday’s dedication of the Legion Memorial Park driveway in honour of Brian and Jesse Lakevold showcased what SAMBA is all about.
“We have a lot of great SAMBA families and the Lakevolds are one of those families,” said SAMBA president Kurtus Millar during the well-organized ceremony on the crowded clubhouse deck. “As you can see the Lakevold family is very popular. They’ve done a lot for St. Albert minor baseball.
“We couldn’t have this facility without you guys. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.”
In attendance were family and friends of the Lakevolds and SAMBA graduates who benefited from their generosity on and off the field.
“One of the reasons we decided to rename the SAMBA driveway Lakevold Lane is because every time you got to the ball park the Lakevold family was a part of it,” Millar said. “I would like to thank the St. Albert minor baseball board of directors because when we came up with this idea they accepted it with open arms. There wasn’t a single board member that said this was a bad idea, not even the new families that never got to know the Lakevold family. Everyone around here is just like a giant family and I wish they got to know the Lakevold family.”
Brian was 64 years old when he was reported missing after his boat was found abandoned in the middle of Lake Okanagan in late August of 2014.
Jesse, an elite-level pitcher during his minor baseball career with the St. Albert Cardinals, suffered an accident and died June 23, 2015 at the age of 33.
“Jesse and Brian were two of the coolest guys you could ever imagine. They were always around the ballpark. Brian, nicknamed Hammer, always came down the SAMBA driveway in a red corvette, his Yankees’ hat on backwards, silently giving Jesse heck for something but always making everyone feel at home, the same way Jesse did as a teammate. It didn’t matter if you were winning or losing, he was ready to throw, he was ready to play and ready to make the dugout laugh in a rain delay.”
Ironically, it poured before the ceremony, prompting Karen Matson, a family friend, to remark that Brian, known as Hammer from the Norwegian Thor mythology, was watching from above.
“I keep hearing thunder and lightning so maybe this is him giving us a shout out for what we’re doing today,” Matson said.
Cody Lakevold, Brian’s son and Jesse’s brother, could also feel the good vibrations.
“You look around these fields I swear to God it’s almost tangible. You can almost feel my dad and my brother here. It’s amazing. I can never pass this place without thinking of them. It’s part of this family,” said Cody, who was joined by his mom, Patricia, wife, Jillene, and daughter, Adella, at the ceremony.
“This is the most heartfelt, sweetest thing to honour the memory of my dad and my brother. It’s astonishing. I’m just blown away. It’s hard to put it into words.”
Jordan Riopel, the appointed “adopted son” of the Lakevold family, described Brian and Jesse as “pillars in the baseball community here in St. Albert” during his speech.
“Jesse played every level, from house league all the way up to AAA rep baseball. He was mostly known for his freakishly strong right arm on the pitching mound. Jesse achieved much success with SAMBA, winning multiple provincial championships and medaling a few times at nationals as well. Jesse was often picked up for traveling teams, all-star teams, western and nationals for other organizations. Jesse's success and development with SAMBA led him to a collegiate baseball career with Merced in California,” Riopel said
“Through his son’s involvement with ball, Brian fell in love with the game. Brian served many roles with SAMBA through Jesse’s career. Brian’s generosity towards SAMBA and all of Jesse’s clubs was endless. He never took credit or advertised his many contributions. If you needed to get something done, Brian was your guy. New jerseys? No problem. Lights for Legion field? Absolutely. Hosting international tournaments? Piece of cake. Our teams always traveled first class on chartered buses and players roomed together in high-end hotels on the road. With Brian as our general manager, we always felt major league.
“We nicknamed Brian as our George Steinbrenner. He always cruised down that very road in his red corvette with his Yankees’ hat on checking out his ball club and that’s his hat right there,” said Riopel, as Matson displayed the cap to the crowd.
“Brian’s and Patti’s generosity included opening up their home, as well as transporting and feeding many players throughout the years. We are forever grateful to the Lakevolds for their kindness.
“I would like to take this time to thank the Lakevold family for all the generosity and commitment to baseball in St. Albert.”
Matson, who grew up with the Lakevold brothers and was “a permanent fixture on those bleachers” while watching the provincial championship run by the Big Red Machine, also spoke from the heart about the Lakevold family
“Jordan said it best: You and Hammer were like the rock stars of St. Albert,” Matson said to Patti. ‘Honestly, it was like a celebrity sighting seeing Hammer roll up the driveway in his red corvette, the hat on backwards and those Lakevold locks.
“Jordan told me that Jesse did know that we wanted to rename this Lakevold Lane and he wanted to call it Hammer Road and I’m kind of sad we didn’t go with that,” Matson added.
“It breaks my heart that it’s taken the tragedies and the loss of two significant and deeply loved family members for me to be able to finally articulate this to you and for us to publically recognize you for it. I truly appreciate everything you guys have done for me, whether you realize the impact it had on my life or not (and) raising such a really, really ridiculous good looking, charming intelligent son like Jesse and I’m still proud to call him my best friend.”
The ceremony coincided with the start of the 33rd annual Tigers Baseball Association tournament, which was rained out, but the majority of the Tigers who had played with Jesse over the years were out in full force.
“It’s weird being back here seeing you guys. It’s like a part of my brother,” Cody told the crowd. “We spent a lot of time here obviously growing up; my brother pitching from the mound throwing strikes across the plate and me watching my brother throwing strikes across the plate.
“My dad was always the proudest St. Albertan. He loved this city. He loved the community here and it’s telling of a community and of its character how you guys honour those that are still here and those that are gone now and it means everything, absolute everything.”
