7,000 LDS at 'Mormon Night with the Angels'
LDS Church News 21Aug99 L3
By Dawn Thurston: Church News contributor

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA -- Mormon Family Night with the Angels was held at Edison Field in Anaheim, California with a record breaking 7,000 Latter-day Saints and friends attending. With the second year of the event being held, it ranked as one of the largest LDS group events yet for a professional baseball game. Both pre-game and "seventh-inning stretch" activities were dominated by members of the the church.

"The Angels staff was blown away by our attendance at this event in l998 and the caliber of the pre-game performers we brought with us," said Joseph Bentley, Orange County director of public affairs for the Church. "They told us we could come back any time. I think this year's event was every bit as successful."

Six-year old Ashton Timmons, of the Laguna Niguel California Stake, was a Little Leaguer who threw out the first pitch of the game. The l5-voice, Anaheim Mormon Chorale sang the national anthem. The seventh-inning stretch rendition of "Take Me out to the Ball Game," was sung by "The Overtones," and LDS barbershop quartet from Newport Beach.

Highlights of the evening were three special recognitions given to outstanding LDS youth. Ashley Furst of the Laguna Niguel Stake was honored for receiving the Florence Griffith Joyner Memorial Scholar Award for her athletic and scholastic achievements at Laguna Hills High School. She will attend Harvard University in the fall and be a member of the track team.

Brad Justice, an honor student from Huntington Beach, who attended Fountain Valley High, received the prestigious Coronet Award for four years of outstanding leadership and community service. He plans to attend BYU and serve a full-time mission.

Pete Albina of Santa Ana South Stake is the youngest at age l5, who scored the highest score in the country on the national CBTS test. He will begin college locally in the fall and plans to attend law school when he returns from his mission.

"The Church already has a strong presence in Orange County, with l5 stakes and 50,000 members, many of whom are highly visible in their communities. Events like these go a long way to help bring the Church out of obsucrity and promote its mission," Brother Bentley added. "These young achievers we honored at the game are representative of so many young LDS members who are living full lives."