Parkesburg, which once had its own professional baseball team called the PICO Ironmen, will celebrate its baseball history with a five-day Baseball Festival at Minch Park, 111 West St., Parkesburg, from Saturday, June 26, through Wednesday, June 30.

The event, to be presented by the South Eastern Pennsylvania Travel Baseball Association (SEPTBA), will include baseball games featuring the Elkton Eclipse and the Keystone Baseball Club of Harrisburg, which will play 1860s-style baseball; a classic car show with prizes; a wiffle ball tournament; wood bat games; and food.

Attendees will also learn about the history of the Ironmen team, which was created by Horace Beale Jr., president of the Parkesburg Iron Company (PICO). His team played at PICO Field, known today as Minch Park, where it faced players like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Casey Stengel. All proceeds from the festival will benefit the restoration of the original PICO field.

The event will open on June 26 with a home run derby contest, the classic car show and the 1860s baseball games. Other activities have been set, including an 11U wood bat game on June 27 and 16U wood bat games on June 28 and June 29, as well. A wiffle ball tournament will begin on June 27, with semifinals on June 28 and the championship on June 29. June 30 will feature an attempt at the largest game of catch at 7 p.m.

A complete schedule of events can be found at http://www.septba.com/baseball-festival.

The event is being planned by Chad Naggy, SEPTBA president and commissioner, who founded the organization in 2016 as an avenue for young ballplayers to compete. SEPTBA's motto is "Gentlemen First, Ball Players Second."

Helping with the festival is borough council member Josh Mellinger, along with Cathy Wilde Christ, whose father, the late Thaddeus "Bud" Wilde, owned a photograph collection from the original PICO team.

"Kathy and Josh came up to idea to have a car show. We started building events around the weekend and it began to grow into a festival," Naggy said. "It's all to raise money for the baseball (fields). There are two fields at Minch Park - upper and lower. The upper field is where the Ironmen played. I'm trying to make the upper field the way it was in 1916."

So far, Naggy's efforts have resulted in the construction of new dugouts at the lower field. And, with Mellinger's assistance, Naggy created the Bullpen gift shop and concession stand at the ballpark in a building donated by Keystone Valley Fire Company.

Items in the mini museum include a photo of Stengel, Ironmen team photos, a newspaper article from when Cobb played at the field and a photo depicting youths peeking through the fence to watch baseball because they could not afford the 25-cent entrance fee. There are also baseball gloves on display and artifacts from the former iron company. For sale in the gift shop are PICO shirts and other items.

For more information about the league or the festival or to register a team in the wiffle ball tournament, contact Naggy at septbassoc@gmail.com or search for "South Eastern Pennsylvania Travel Baseball Association" on Facebook. To contribute to the effort, visit http://www.gofundme.com/f/restoration-of-1921-pico-field.