It takes a village.

Octorara Area Little League has its village.

The league's homebase, Lions Park in Christiana, needed a new scoreboard on the main field. The new scoreboard, donated by Houghton Enterprises, was recently installed by a group of nearly a dozen dads on a warm Monday night at the park, 4 Sadsbury Ave., Christiana.

The new scoreboard is nearly twice as large as its predecessor and can be controlled remotely and wirelessly from anywhere around the field. Previously, wired cables had to be run from the dugouts to control the scoreboard remotely.

"The Houghton family has been what we call our grand slam sponsors," said Craig Fackler, sponsorship coordinator for the Little League. "The Houghtons have donated everything for the scoreboard. They have kids in the league; they want to see everything elevated."

Octorara Area Little League rostered about 215 kids last season, ranging from T-ball to the senior division, which goes up to 16 years of age. Many other areas have shifted away from a formal affiliation with Little League International, which has expanded Octorara Area Little League's borders to include much of the Pequea Valley and Solanco school districts.

The new scoreboard cost the Houghton family approximately $7,000, Fackler said. Summers & Zim's donated electrical hardware for the scoreboard, while J&D Smucker Construction provided parts for the scoreboard's base. Dutch-Way Hardware also assisted with parts for the project.

The gameday experience is strong at Lions Park. Behind home plate sits a two-story building that houses a robust concession stand and press box. Three of the four fields at the complex have covered and enclosed dugouts, as well as a fence. Two of the fields also currently have working scoreboards, while parts from the previous scoreboard on the main field will be repurposed for one of the secondary fields.

Another major recent improvement on the main field was a brand-new sound system, donated by Woerth Motor Company. The system allows songs to be played during breaks in action and gives the ability to make announcements for the whole complex.

With the sound system, the players at Octorara Area Little League have a unique privilege that is rare at any level of amateur baseball: walk-up songs. The kids get to choose their own song to be played when they approach the plate; some kids choose classics, while others select songs by contemporary acts like Imagine Dragons and AJR.

"It's a little bit of everything," Fackler said.

Fall ball registration is open for all divisions and can be found online at http://www.octoraralittleleague.org. T-Ball and "Minors" division registration is free, while older divisions carry a nominal cost. The season will open on Saturday, Aug. 22, and run through Halloween.

Even with the modern improvements, Lions Park still carries the traditional, classic vibe of local youth baseball. Sponsorship banners adorn the outfield fences, and local nonplaying kids always seem to find ways to have fun around the park on gamedays.

The park is a strong foundation to carry the organization into the future. Denim Kurtzhals, mayor of Atglen, was one of the volunteers involved with the erection of the scoreboard. Kurtzhals is also the vice president of Octorara Area Little League and manages the organization's "Junior" division team.

"I think it really helps (the kids) feel like the community supports them," said Kurtzhals. "Baseball players are definitely appreciative of that."