New Florida Half Century Commissioners Announced

Jan. 1, 2009

by Duane Jones

Softball News Report

At the FHC (Florida Half Century) board of directors meeting in August the board confirmed the appointment of John “JB” Barner as the FHC 60+ commissioner and Duane Jones as the FHC 50+ commissioner.

Barner has been an active member of the FHC program since 1993 and has functioned as a player, manager and coach of several teams which have included Shannon’s Agin Relics, the 3 Amigos and Hallmark Dental. He is also a national director with SSUSA and is the SSUSA Eastern National Umpire-In-Chief.

Jones has been serving as the secretary of the FHC since January 2007 and has been a member of the association since 1998. He played on the old Florida Crackers team and was a founding member and the first manager of the Tampa Bandits.

In November, elections were held at the annual FHC managers’ meeting and John Diaz, manager of the Jarrett Ford and Highlands County Merchants teams, was elected as the area director for area 1 of the state. That area incorporates most of the Southeastern quarter of Florida. Diaz brings a lot of enthusiasm to the job and is looking forward to promoting the growth of senior softball in that part of the state. Jones was re-elected as FHC secretary, Mike Pilvers as FHC chairman and Dick Dion as the area 3 director.

The association also honored retiring area 1 director, Robert VanLandingham, with his induction into the FHC Hall of Fame. The hall of fame induction was a tribute to his contributions to the association and his service to the organization.

At that same meeting, the association published the new tournament calendar for 2009. This can be viewed on the FHC web site (www.fhcsoftball.com).