A handful of JUCO players got to meet some of their biggest fans Thursday night at the annual JUCO-STRIVE picnic.

This is the fifth year JUCO teams have met with members of the community at this event.  It started when some JUCO teams were invited to play in a game with Grand Junction Challenger baseball, and JUCO officials realized there were still other JUCO teams not participating in the game and former challenger baseball players who would still love a chance to meet the players.

“Really you can do almost anything here and it’s more than what you can do, it’s the feeling the kids get and that’s I think the biggest reason they do it,” said Christian Violon, playing for the Delgado Dolphins in attendance at the picnic.

Barbara Traylor Smith, an organizer of the event, said it’s a great way for people new to the community to interaction with people they typically don’t have the chance to.

Sheri Ray with STRIVE said, “it just fills me with warmth, it makes me so happy because everybody gets along and they just have fun playing games.”