Mud Chickens are forever

Vernon - What do a group of Vernon guys who have been friends for as long as they can remember and played softball together under the name of Mud Chickens for over three decades do when bad knees, rotator cuffs and many herniated discs forced them to hang up their spikes? They take their Mud Chickens name and all that it had come to mean to them and use it to market a fun line of clothing for men, women and children. “Mud Chickens represents what’s right about America,” said Keith Dalton, one of the nine men who are involved in the enterprise. “It’s being there for each other regardless of whether it’s convenient or not and knowing that you only have to ask and the other guys are right there for you.” Friendships were cemented over many years of playing softball, and by all accounts some of their best games were played in the mud - leading to their name the Mud Chickens. “It seemed like we only won when it rained and there was plenty of mud,” explained Billy Dignan. “Actually, we never played to win. We played for the game and the fun that we had. As a matter of fact, we had good players from better teams come and ask if they could join our team simply because they could see the feeling of camaraderie that was always there.” As the years passed, the Mud Chickens got their girlfriends and wives involved in the whole fellowship thing, and a Mud Chicks softball team was born. “After all, who could love a Mud Chicken better than a Chick?” asked Dalton. Using the Vernon Inn as their corporate headquarters, the Mud Chickens spent many an hour trying to figure out what they could do as a team now that their softball days had come to an end. “We were looking for some way to keep our team together so to speak,” said James Drew. “And that’s when we came up with the idea of marketing our Mud Chickens T-shirts and hats because a lot of people would ask us what a Mud Chicken was when they saw it on our clothes.” For the moment, the merchandise is made by local vendors, but the Mud Chickens have recently bought equipment which will enable them to produce their products themselves. “By this time next year, we hope to be doing all of the work ourselves,” said Steve Moss. “This is definitely a capitalist venture but eventually we plan to give back to the community by sponsoring some of Vernon’s Little League teams,” he added. For more information go to www.mudchickens.com or call 973-764-6821.