OGEMA – An upcoming Heritage Minute will tell the story of Mary “Bonnie” Baker, a professional baseball player from Regina. Baker was a catcher and utility infielder in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) for nine seasons.
She was one of 68 Canadian women who played in the league. In 1950, she also served as the only regular female manager in the league’s 12-year history. She was known as a feisty character on the diamond and a vivacious personality off it.
Principal filming was done June 8 and 9 in Ogema at the fairgrounds.
Ogema is the hometown of former AAGPBL player Arleene (Johnson) Noga. The town’s historic grandstand is dedicated in her name and served as the principal location for the AAGPBL scenes.
The production welcomed Ogema residents to be on location during the shoot days. There was an opportunity to appear as extras in the production.
“Saskatchewan has a long and impressive history of producing some of Canada’s best athletes in a variety of sports,” said Anthony Wilson-Smith, President and CEO of Historica Canada. “We’re delighted to be working with our partners at Danny Rockett Productions and Barbershop Films to tell the story of one of them – and to be doing it in a location with such a rich history of its own.”
This Heritage Minute was written by Joleen Ballendine with producer Brent Kawchuk, along with director of photography Kristin Fieldhouse, and director Anita Ayres.
This Heritage Minute is being produced by Historica Canada and Danny Rockett Productions and Barbershop Films, a Saskatchewan production company, with funding support from Creative Saskatchewan and in-kind equipment support from William F. White International.
"We're thrilled to be able to support this Heritage Minute, showcasing Baker's incredible leadership journey in Saskatchewan sports history," said Erin Dean, CEO of Creative Saskatchewan, "Our investment of just over $80,000 is expected to deliver a positive economic return to the tune of more than $380,000 for Saskatchewan. It's truly a win-win for our province."
The Mary “Bonnie” Baker Heritage Minute was made possible through funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage. The Heritage Minutes collection is a bilingual Canadian series comprised of 60-second short films, each depicting a significant person, event or story in Canadian history.
