Canal Park saw its five millionth fan come through the turnstiles Monday night, and I don’t know if a better guy could have won the door prize.

Terry Reagan, who works in real estate for Howard Hanna, had bought 10 tickets weeks ago in anticipation of the arrival of his sister-in-law from Texas, planning to take her and a handful of family out for a night of fun.

What a night it turned out to be.

The 55-year-old West Akron resident wasn’t more than a few steps into the park when an Aeros staff member and intern ascended on him with a bouquet of balloons and a handful of Aeros items - including a ball and special jersey signed by the team.

Soon, an overwhelmed Reagan learned that he’d also won a pair of season tickets for next year and a night in a suite for up to 20 people this season - complete with a limo ride to and from the ballpark - as well as the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at an upcoming game after the short All-Star Break.

“This is unbelievable, what a complete surprise,” he said.

After a free shopping spree in the Aeros team shop and several interviews with various media, Reagan and his delighted group finally had a chance to settle in their seats and watch some of the game - the reason they came in the first place.

For all the griping done recently on this site about ticket and food prices at Canal Park, the Aeros certainly deserve plenty of praise for doing this one up right.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 9th, 2007 at 10:12 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.