Love For Baseball Inspired Ellington Man's Halloween Handouts

ELLINGTON, CT — Trick-or-treaters looking for goodies in the Woodside Acres neighborhood of Ellington had an opportunity to not only pick up some Snickers and Baby Ruths, but also to become part of an enjoyable hobby which has sharply decreased among youngsters due to various factors in recent years, particularly the advent of electronic devices.

Visitors to John Hansen's home at 65 Hillside Drive were able to pick up packs of baseball cards at his door on Halloween night. The cards were random selections he had packaged, containing a mixture of players from the 1980s through today.

Hansen, 32, said he has collected cards since he was a child, and has obtained autographs of numerous players on cards over the years, mainly in person. He said he hoped to pass on his love for the hobby to even one young person.

On the Facebook page Ellington Friends, Hansen wrote, "I’m hoping some kids enjoy them as much as I did. Trying to bring back kids playing with baseball cards rather than electronics!"

In an email to Patch Thursday night, Hansen wrote, "I’m so glad you reached out to me today. After everyone reading the article you wrote, it got the attention of a lot of people and we had a pretty good turn out over here in Woodside Acres. I’d say we had about 25 or so groups of kids which was nice. The year before we only had about eight groups of kids."