This will be the third Brotherhood Bash, said Battalion Chief Kevin Hawkins of the city's fire department, the first one a home run derby format to raise funds for former firefighter Scotty Jean and medical issues he encountered then.

(The double elimination tournament begins at 8 a.m. at Chockoyotte Park)

“Jayme Shelburne came with that,” Hawkins said recently. “He did a great job raising money.”

This year there will be eight men's and four women's teams, Hawkins said, the entry fees as well as money made at concessions going for the Veterans Park improvements.

Upkeep of the park has always been one of the duties of the fire department, Hawkins said, and firefighters worked on giving it a thorough sprucing ahead of the placement of the Korean and Vietnam memorials there in May.

With the money raised from the tournament, the fire department wants to do a complete re-landscaping of the park. “With the age of the bushes, the briars and wire grass overtook it,” Hawkins said. “We want to revamp it to make it more conducive to the memorial.”

Landscaper John Pittman will advise the firefighters on the project. “He's agreed to help us out and get us in the right direction. We're getting new plants and are going to dig out the old flowerbeds and put new ones in, new flowers, shrubs and trees.”

Hawkins said the firefighters have a personal stake in the park because they maintain it and because of the patriotic meaning of it. “It was put here to honor veterans. We want it to be a nice-looking place so veterans feel honored by it.”