Mike Sherry had a first-hand opportunity to view a Miracle League field in use in Alabama. Paired with non-disabled buddies, Miracle League team members are children who have various disabilities. As he watched these children play, laugh and cheer – he knew he was watching something very special.
A few years later, Sherry coached his 7-year-old son Tanner’s baseball team. A parent asked the Cranberry Township Athletic Association if they could make an exception for her son so that he could hit off of a tee, since he had a disability. Sherry became inspired by the question, and felt that no parent should ever have to ask that question. Though he and the other coaches in the league were willing to make the exception for the little boy, Sherry wondered why there wasn't a place where exceptions didn’t need to be granted.
He thought about the Miracle League he watched a couple of years ago. Inspired, Sherry was determined to make sure that children using wheel chairs, crutches and walkers could round the bases of a base ball field just like any other child.
“That’s when all of the memories of the past cam rushing back and I realized I needed to build a field --- a Miracle League field,” Sherry said.
A resident of the Avery’s Field neighborhood in Cranberry Township, Sherry’s own 5-year-old daughter, Jordan, was diagnosed with autism. He and his wife, Chris, don't know if Jordan will need special exceptions should she share Tanner’s love of baseball, but they are glad to know she’ll have the opportunity to play if she desires to do so.
Sherry spends his time spearheading an effort designed to provide a place where children with disabilities can play organized baseball –
the Miracle League of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He also remains active in the CranberryTownship Athletic Association as a little league coach.
Sherry approached Cranberry officials, and they agreed to dedicate space in the new Graham Park for development of a Miracle League field.
“The need for this field is not only based on the number of kids in Cranberry and Butler County that have mental or physical disabilities, but all of the kids in southwestern Pennsylvania,” Sherry said. “So many times throughout these kids’ lives they are told no. Well, we’re here to say – yes. Yes, you can.”
“We cannot change or cure the medical issues life has dealt disabled children. But what we can do is provide them with an opportunity to experience the joy and benefits that come from playing baseball,” Sherry said.
Sherry said there is a quote he likes to reference that sums up all that the Miracle League encompasses – “What matters in this life is more than winning for ourselves. What matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course.”
Stacy Smith co-anchors KDKA-TV News at Noon with Sonni Abatta and KDKA-TV News at Four and Six with Patrice King Brown.
Stacy joined KDKA-TV in July 1983 as an anchor and reporter and co-anchored the 11pm news for 15 years. During his years at KDKA, Stacy has garnered several key awards including co-anchoring with Patrice the breaking news coverage of the Crash of Flight 427 which earned KDKA-TV a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award. In 1991 Stacy anchored the first Pittsburgh newscast to win an Emmy. Stacy also played a significant role in several Emmy Award-winning special reports including "After the Miracle" (a report on life after transplantation) and "Generation X" (a report on the 30 and under age group).
An Emmy award-winning program for Pittsburgh's PBS station, WQED-TV, entitled "Maazel!" was also narrated by Stacy. Stacy was awarded a Golden Quill in 2007 for an hour special on then Pittsburgh Roman Catholic Bishop Donald Wuerl. Stacy co-produced and anchored the special. He also was honored by the Associated Press and nominated for an emmy in 2006 for a half-hour special that he produced, wrote and anchored on the 50 year anniversary of the discovery of the polio vaccine here in Pittsburgh.
The AP and UPI have also honored Stacy for reports on Dr. Thomas Starzl and on Alzheimer's disease. In addition, Stacy has anchored newscasts that have honored him with awards from both the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI).
In 1993, Stacy was the recipient of the Vector's Man of the Year in Communications Award. In 2006 was honored with the Life Time Achievement Award by the Pittsburgh Radio and Television Club. Political conventions in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996 and 2000 were also covered in depth by Stacy. Stacy's reporting for KDKA has meant traveling not only across the country but also to Israel and to Rome and Vatican City.
Prior to joining KDKA-TV, Stacy anchored the evening newscasts at WDAF-TV in Kansas City, Missouri, for six years. Before that, he worked at WHAS-AM/FM/TV in Louisville and WIFE-AM in Indianapolis. Stacy began his broadcast career at WLBC-AM/FM in Muncie, Indiana, in December of 1971.
Community activities for Stacy include having served on the Board of Directors of Harmarville Rehabilitations Center, Three Rivers Council for Independent Living, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Family House of Pittsburgh. In 2007, Stacy was given the title of Chairman Emmeritus for Family House. He also has been involved with the Shriners and was named an Honorary Ambassador for the Syria Mosque.
Stacy is also a founding member and chairs The Pittsburgh Creche Endowment Committee.
Stacy is a graduate of Marian College in Indianapolis. He and his wife, Sharon, reside in a suburb of Pittsburgh. They have two children.
Sylvia S. Choi, MD, FAAP, is an attending physician of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC’s Paul C. Gaffney Diagnostic Referral Service, which consists of pediatric hospitalists for Children's General Medical Service.
Dr. Choi and her colleagues in the Diagnostic Referral Service help families and support primary care physicians by identifying a child’s specialized medical needs while coordinating the best possible advanced treatment. The service is staffed by full-time physicians with special interest in the diagnostic challenges of general pediatrics, who specialize in multisystem diseases, complex single-system problems and basic pediatric problems. Based at Children’s, Dr. Choi’s group serves as a consultative service for physicians whose patients have complex diagnoses because they have years of experience in diagnosing and managing a wide variety of the most complex pediatric medical conditions. That experience complements the referring physician’s knowledge of the patient and provides a fresh perspective on what may be a challenging diagnosis and management.
Dr. Choi also serves as the medical director of Children’s Limited Stay Unit, which provides focused, rapid treatment for those patients with simple diagnoses whose estimated length of stay is six to 48 hours.
Dr. Choi, who is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, is a member of the American Board of Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics, Alpha Omega Alpha, and the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, to name just a few. She has been a Pediatric Advanced Life Support instructor with the American Heart Association since 1997.
She received her medical degree and her doctorate at Boston University, and completed her pediatrics residency and chief residency at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Dr. Choi is married to Dr. Thomas Chalifoux, Anesthesiology, and together they have 3 children. They reside in Wexford,
PA.
