The 2009 Orioles Holiday Party

12-08-09: Orioles Holiday Party for Kids

Here are photos from the 31st Orioles Annual Holiday Party.

On Wednesday at the ESPN Zone in downtown Baltimore, about 80 kids from the Lakeland Elementary got to hang out with former and current Oriole players -- both major and minor leaguers -- along with team coaches and officials for about two hours.
It was quite a production with Jim Hunter as the emcee and Rick Dempsey dressed up as Santa Claus later on and followed in the hallowed tradition -- done in part by the late Elrod Hendricks -- of singing Christmas carols.

The players and coaches served lunch to the kids, while they -- as most are when they see a litany of food -- were as happy as could be. As well, later on during the event, the players joined along with kids and had some fun upstairs, enjoying the various games and arcade stuff. All in all, everyone -- especially the adults -- seemed to have a ball on Wednesday afternoon.

I could not stay for the entire event; however, the Orioles.com and MASN's Kate Wheeler have reports on what took place...