By Craig Smith
In 1958, J.L. “Speed” Hervieux put a glass jar on the counter of his bookstore, The Napa Book Company, and put a simple sign next to it. “Brother, can you spare a dime?” the sign read, and the proceeds raised from it were used to take under-privileged children to Giants games.
“I get a kick out of watching the kids, especially those who have never been to a big-league baseball game before,” Hervieux said in an interview with Marty James from the Napa Register, in June 1979. “I cater to kids whose parents can’t afford to send them to ballgames,” he added. Speed’s slogan was simple and direct: “It may be your dime that will make some needy and deserving kid happy.”
Little did Speed know that his dream would continue uninterrupted through owner lockouts, player strikes, record breaking, good times and bad times--due to the dedication of a few members of the Kiwanis Club of Napa: George Blaufuss, Joe Boivin, Bill O’Byrne and Ron Swim, with assistance from Bob Zeller and Jim Terry. Ryan Gregory took over the program in 2007, and has been running it since. COVID interrupted its long run, but it has been back on track since. “This year, we’ll make four trips – one featuring kids from the Napa Boys and Girls Club, one from the same club in American Canyon, and one for the Special Olympics,” said Ryan. “The fourth run will be used as a fund raiser to help keep the program going.”
The bus holds fifty passengers. Twenty-five or more are always free for kids, the others are tickets sold to the public. The latter group includes a lot of seniors, who appreciate the stadium door-to-door service, as well as the time spent with the children. Like Speed, Ryan loves to see kids faces light up when they see the stadium for the first time. “For many, it’s also the first time they cross the Golden Gate Bridge, and it’s fun to watch their reaction to that as well.”
Speed, nicknamed when he ran a 9.6 one-hundred-yard dash in the 1920 Olympic trials, played minor league pro ball for three and a half years as a catcher and third baseman. His last team was the St. Louis Cardinals. He was an avid reader who always consumed the sports page first. He loved living in Napa, and loved owning a bookstore. “I love it up here,” he told Marty James in that 1979 interview, “The climate is so beautiful I don’t think I could ever move away from here. I don’t think you could find a more beautiful place than this town.”
Ryan said that program costs have skyrocketed, but he and the Kiwanis Club of Napa will do all they can to keep it going. “That bus ride to and from the game used to be pretty cheap, now it’s $2,000 each time.” Anyone who is interested in getting on the mailing list for more information, making a donation or buying tickets, can call Ryan directly at 707-337-4962.
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