Success of Fairfield American Is Bringing Recognition To The Town

One of the benefits of Fairfield American's trip to the Little League World Series is that it will help the town receive some national exposure.

It began with Saturday night's New England Regional championship game in Bristol, which was televised by ESPN, and will continue in Williamsport, where all of the team's games will be aired on one of the ESPN networks.

But even more than that,  there's the pride involved to represent the town in one of the world's most recognized sporting events.

"That's exactly it," said Gerry Lombardo, Fairfield's parks and recreation director. "It's every kid's dream to win a championship and go to the World Series. That's why they play the game."

Since winning the New England Regional championship game with a 1-0 win over Rhode Island on Saturday, Lombardo can sense that people in town are rallying around the team and looking forward to the start of the LLWS on Friday.

"I'm ecstatic," he said. "It's great to see your community being exposed this way, national television, ESPN. It's a great thing for this community.  It's gravy here on out.  They're on their way to the World Series. They'll be able to look back on it for the rest of their lives."

So, if you are a Fairfield resident, what is the one thing you would like the rest of the country to know about your town?

Perhaps one of the least-known facts about Fairfield is that it is the "Dogwood Capital of the World" with 10,000 of the trees blooming each spring.

Beyond that, Fairfield is an affluent community along Connecticut's "Gold Coast" with eight miles of coastline. Located about an hour from New York City, it has a highly regarded school system and is the home of two top notch universities: Fairfield and Sacred Heart.

With a population of just over 53,000, CNN Money Magazine has ranked Fairfield as the ninth-best place to live in the country.

Because of its affluence and high standard of living, Fairfield  has been  home to a number of celebrities over the years.

Aaron Burr, the father of the vice president by the same name, lived in Fairfield during the 18th Century.

More recent residents of Fairfield include radio personality Don Imus, "Crocodile Dundee" star Paul Hogan, actor Jason Robards, former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, and composer/musician Leonard Bernstein.  Actress Meg Ryan was born in Fairfield in 1961.

Fairfield also has produced a number of nationally-known athletes. Perhaps the most famous of those is the late golfer Julius Boros, who won 18 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including three majors.

Quarterback Joe Namath, who led the New York Jets to a 16-7 victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in 1969,  once called Fairfield home.

Former pitcher Charles Nagy, who won 129 games in the major leagues, grew up in Fairfield and attended the old Roger Ludlowe High School.

PGA golfer J.J. Henry, a three-time winner on tour, was born in Fairfield in 1975.

Tennis star James Blake is a Yonkers, New York native, but attended Fairfield High School after Ludlowe and Andrew Warde merged.

The town was hoping to put together  a send-off party for Fairfield American this week, but that is not going to happen since it departed for Williamsport on Monday.

Still, the players can expect to be treated like conquering heroes when they get back to Fairfield.

"Win, lose or draw, I'm sure we'll do something when they return," Lombardo said.