In the spring of 1985, Kristian Electric employees, family, and friends joined the Calgary Riverside Modified Baseball League. Kris Gjertsen, then company President, and his wife Bertha sponsored the team, provided the uniforms, and cheered on the team throughout the regular season.
The KEL Team entered the 1985 season in the ‘B’ Division, proving themselves competitive right from the start! By the 1986 season, the KEL Team won their division and moved up to compete in the ‘A’ division for the 1987 season.
After wrapping up the 1987 season, the KEL Team went on a road trip to Mexico to compete in Cabo San Lucas on the southern tip of the Baha. Under the hot Cabo sun, they were ready to show their skills competing in a week-long slow-pitch tournament! But by the first game, the KEL Team quickly realized that Mexican slow-pitch was played a bit differently than its Canadian counterpart… Nevertheless, the team made it to the semi-finals before being defeated and sent back to the beaches and bars where they were truly at their best.
Since the retirement of the KEL Team not long after their Mexican adventure… tales of the team have become stories of yore, remembered by all. Every once and a while, a former member might proudly wear one of the original baseball shirts… to the envy of everyone else! The shirts, like the photographs we keep proudly displayed, remained as souvenirs of a simpler time… when KEL employees, family, and friends could really step up to the plate for each other.
Fast forward thirty-two years to 2019… as Kristian Electric prepared to celebrate our 55th anniversary.
Celebrating 55 years in business is no small feat. We knew that we had to do something significant to mark the occasion… so we brought back the old baseball jerseys to celebrate! The shirts were updated with the current Kristian logo and emblazoned with the number ‘55’ on the back in celebration of the company anniversary.
The re-designed shirts not only paid homage to the original KEL Team, but renewed the fact that all employees, family, and friends are part of a new KEL Team. (And you don’t need to be able to swing a bat this time!) What better way to show off the company team spirit than with a team inspired shirt?
Since the release of the KEL baseball shirts, it’s hard to find any Kristian employee who isn’t proud to show off their team colors!
