In our ongoing world of “won’t be’s” we are ever aware that there won’t be motorcycles rumbling across Lycoming County commemorating the lives lost on 9/11; no mummers marching through the streets of South Williamsport this Halloween, nor a championship Little League game played at Lamade Stadium this Sunday.

However, there are a whole lot of reflections and conversations going on among those men and women who annually serve as team “Uncles” and “Aunts” about what they are missing due to the cancellation of this year’s Little League World Series. Last week, this column shared the thoughts of Uncle Gary Whiteman. This week, fellow uncles Pete Lupacchino (27 years), Joe Girio (22 years), and Marlin Cromley (21 years) add their thoughts to the unfortunate “won’t be” of their bellowed Series duties.

WW: What does being a World Series Uncle mean to you?

Lupacchino: “While everyone enjoys the Series, the team Uncles and Aunts get to experience something most people never get to see. I see my role as a goodwill ambassador, and I want to make those two weeks memorable to the team I am assigned. Regardless of the outcome for the team, I want them to leave with memories of experiencing such a wonderful event. I keep in touch with players and managers I’ve had all the way back to when I started. It’s thrilling to see how they have grown and turned into fine young men and women. Every year brings a new chance to make an impression, and I strive to do my best to make sure they have a great time.”

Girio: “It means a lot to me. It is an international event, so we want to be good ambassadors who represent Little League and our community in the best way possible. I want my team to win, but more importantly, my partner, Lee Miller, and I encourage our team to experience other things. Meeting players from other countries and states, creating friendships, and taking in the sights of our local area provide the players and coaches with great memories of their time in Williamsport. We must remember these are 12-year-old boys and girls and we try and keep things light, not all competition. Most people would be surprised at the number of hours we spend at the complex and the many different things we do for our teams while they are here.”

Cromely: “Summing it up into one word it would be, friendships. I am very proud and consider it a privilege that Little League International entrusts me to represent their organization. The friendships of fellow uncles and aunts, ushers, security, kitchen, housekeeping, and grounds crew members, along with the lasting friendships of managers, coaches, and the players are wonderful. Being an uncle has allowed me to play a small role in the experience of teams coming to South Williamsport. I have memories to last a lifetime. I’ve received invitations to college graduations, have attended weddings, received birth announcements, and continue to stay in touch with many national and international team members, coaches, and managers and their families.”

WW: What’s this August like with no World Series?

Lupacchino: “It has been a very strange one. I’ve already watched a few replays ESPN has aired, and I am hopeful they will show more. While it isn’t the real thing, it will help ease the void we are experiencing. I really look forward to these two weeks every year. I keep in touch with other Uncles, and we discuss our past teams and reminisce about the good times we have had together.”

Girio: “I am definitely missing it, as this would have been my 23rd year. As the mornings turn cooler and the evenings turn darker, it’s a reminder we will not be seeing family, friends, and other volunteers that work the Series each year. We won’t be seeing or hearing from former players or coaches that would call us when they came back to the Series. It is, in many ways, a reunion with people sharing memories. It is rewarding for former players to share what they are now doing and to hear their memories of their time spent here. There is magic in the air, and it is truly a Field of Dreams for those coaches and players.”

Cromley: “The best I can say is “empty.” I am missing the arrival of one of my team host partners who stays at our house, Chuck Deluca, from North Carolina. Chuck was the coach of the 2002 Southeast team that I had hosted. I miss my other team host partner, Stan Helt. I surely miss the many friends from the kitchen staff, housekeeping, ushers, grounds crew, and iHeart radio’s “Man in the Crowd,” Tom Speicher. It is always a thrill meeting my team upon their arrival to International Grove and seeing their faces light up when they walk onto Lamade Stadium for the first time.”

For Lupacchino, it will be the first time since 1992 he will be home to celebrate his wife’s August 25th birthday. Girio is spending the time with family and friends. For Cromley, it is a void he finds difficult to fill.

“There is no substitute for such a unique experience. The Little League World Series is a very, very special event and one that has given my wife and me many friends throughout the world.”

Lupacchino, Girio, Cromley, and Whiteman are just four of the dedicated volunteers who are proud to call themselves Little League “Uncles and Aunts.” Like all of you, they find this August all too different from what we have come to experience in the past. We are all left to hope that the dreaded opponent COVID-19 will be struck outcome the 2021 Little League World Series.