By Thomas Cathey | Special To The OBSERVER
On his 90th birthday, Norman Blackwell Sr. is the most energetic body in the building, dancing and gliding through a room full of guests there to celebrate him and his achievements.
“It’s a beautiful blessing – 90 years old and still having fun, still playing ball,” Blackwell told The OBSERVER, playfully holding one fist atop the other as if he were up to bat.
An Oak Park community leader and activist, Blackwell celebrated his milestone in a big way Nov. 18 at the Oak Park Community Center. About 200 people came out to honor the man who has helped hundreds of thousands of hungry folks in need.
“We feed about 2,500 families a month from all over. Some come twice a week,” Blackwell said.
Some 40 years ago, Blackwell and his late wife, Peaches, began a food pantry service from the driveway of their Oak Park home, where they raised 13 children. “Coming from a big family, we needed food ourselves and just wanted to give something back. We got more supplies than what we needed from the Sacramento Food Bank, Senior Gleaners and other service agencies, and we started giving it away. The agencies filled my truck up with food, we set up tables and more and more people came.”
Now, Blackwell’s son Norman Jr. has taken over as pantry director. “We get grandfathers, parents and kids who are now grown and still come by and really appreciate what I’m doing,” Norman Blackwell Sr. said.
This, in addition to his storied past as a professional baseball player and manager of a local softball organization, the Sacramento Gold, has led him to touch the lives of countless families throughout the Oak Park community and Sacramento. And what better place to celebrate than in the heart of Oak Park, practically across the street from his home.
Blackwell was 8 when he moved with his family in 1941 from Santa Monica to Oak Park. He graduated from McClatchy High School, where he played baseball and basketball.
After his parents moved to Fruitridge, Blackwell played his last year of baseball in Elk Grove, then moved back to Oak Park, married Peaches – a marriage that lasted 65 years until she passed in 2017 – and played shortstop at Sacramento City College.
He refused to play in the minor leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization in Savannah, Georgia – he was very conscious of the racism and lynchings that permeated the South then – and got a job at McClellan Air Force Base, where he worked for 36 years helping maintain and repair wheels on airplanes. He stayed connected to baseball by playing in a semipro league.
Blackwell’s secret to a long, healthy life is “beet juice and carrot juice every morning.” He also has played ball continuously. It’s softball now, which he plays Tuesdays and Thursdays, catching in a 75-and-over league. “I’m doing pretty good hanging in there with them,” he said. “I’m now the second-oldest Black softball player still playing in the world.”
Blackwell’s children and grandchildren worked tirelessly to set up the event. Granddaughter Thelma Sanders handled primary planning, while his son Juan helped coordinate the line for food. Local musician Ron S. L. Matthews provided live music for the guests throughout the dinner.
“It was a blessing being here for my dad’s 90th birthday,” Juan Blackwell said. “We had a great time tonight and everything went well.”
Blackwell’s food bank continues to operate at 11 a.m.-noon Wednesdays and Fridays at 3909 8th Ave., across from the Oak Park Community Center.
Norman Sr.’s family put on a tremendous effort to deliver a proper celebration for him, wanting to repay him for the decades of giving back to his neighborhood and community.
“It’s amazing to have all these people here,” Sanders said. “Ninety years! We need to give him our flowers while he’s still here.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: OBSERVER Editor-In-Chief Stephen Magagnini contributed to this story.