Team moms pitch in at Freeport Invitational
-->The Freeport International Baseball Invitational is about more than the players and coaches. It's about the team moms, too.
From serving as business manager to fundraiser to scorekeeper — or just rooting from the stands — mothers play a key role in the event.
Those roles can even extend to laundering uniforms in a car wash.
As the tournament got under way, Marion Bertke was cheering on her son, Josh, and the Bluegrass Chiefs from Florence, Ky. She has traveled far and wide to watch her son, heading to Tennessee, Florida, Indiana and, each of the past several summers, Freeport.
Bertke doesn't mind all the time on the road.
"I love it. I wouldn't have it any other way," she said. "My vacations are spent going to the ballparks. Sports is the greatest thing in the world."
Bertke and her husband, Troy, run a sporting goods store in suburban Cincinnati.
"I have good people working for me; they can hold down the fort," Bertke said.
Second quarter earnings reports quell economic fears
After a disappointing Monday, U.S. stock markets rebounded Tuesday thanks to strong second quarter earnings reports led by IBM, Coca-Cola and an increase in new housing starts. These positive economic indicators appear to have offset fears of the European debt crisis and a potential U.S. default.
IBM rose after reporting an increase in profit forecasts due to expected growth in demand for their software, according to Bloomberg. The Wall Street Journal is reporting Coca-Cola’s second quarter earnings surged by 18%, in part due to improved international growth.
Housing starts beat analysts’ forecasts and construction permits rose, Reuters reports. And unexpected success in the housing market gave investors optimism in the face of tense Washington debt ceiling negotiations.
The second quarter earnings season is off to an encouraging start as these reports follow positive announcements last week by JPMorgan, Citibank, and Google.
Goldman Sachs and Bank of America disappointed investors Tuesday according to a WSJ report. Goldman’s earnings report failed to meet expectations, sending its stock down by almost a full percentage point. Bank of America’s earnings fell as expected, as mortgage problems continue to plague the bank.
John Griffith, owner of Bechtelsville Car Wash, middle, presents a check to the United Way of Boyertown Area's Board President GiGi Malinchak and Lee
