Kids and Kubs, Ethel Lehmann Turn 94 For New Season

The World Renown Kids and Kubs is a Softball Club for male and female senior citizens over 75. Ethel Lehmann turned 94 on November 24, 1929. Her birthdate predates the Kids and Kubs 1930 founding.

The Three Quarter Century Club (aka Kids and Kubs) states its mission as "healthy age-appropriate exercise" through the game of softball. The Club has been in business for 94 years, and current members range between 75 and 94.

Active three days a week, the physical and mental condition of the Club's participants is genuinely inspirational. An example is senior citizens emphasizing the importance of remaining active later in their years. "Motion is lotion" for older muscles, and the softball game offers the opportunity to be healthy and competitive.

Ethel Lehmann (age 94) is a member of the Women's National Senior Softball Hall of Fame (2008). A member of the Kids and Kubs since 2004 and co-founder of the Women's Freedom Spirit Softball team that won 4 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze metals at the National Senior Games during the '90s.

Lehman has been quoted as saying." I love sports. As a kid, I ran home from school at 3:00 to hear the last few innings of the New York Yankees games on the radio.

In 1947, Lehman was named the Most Valuable Player of her softball team at Hicksville High School in Long Island, New York.

After High School, She became a typist for a book publishing company. In 1974, she moved to Florida with her husband and five children. As he pursued a new job offer.

As an older adult, Track and field attracted Ethel's competitive appetite. She is noted as one of the All‐Time Greats In the Florida Senior Games records, and Ethel Lehmann, Largo, has been a track and field fixture since 1993.

In 2015, with the Games being held in her backyard at Clearwater High School, Lehmann etched her name in the Florida Senior Games record book 11 times, competing in the 85‐89 age group for the first time.

Her performances in the high jump, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus, and javelin set records by a little and a lot. Her javelin throw of 41 feet topped the previous record by more than 20 feet, and her discus throw of 39 feet broke the previous mark by 10 feet. She recorded record-setting times in the 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 meter running events.

She used her contacts in Track and field to recruit members for a women's softball team, the Florida Spirit, that won two Bronzes and 3 Silvers. And four gold metals. In the National Senior game competition, two were won back-to-back, 2001- 2005.

Lehmann was named the 1997 Florida Senior Games Athlete of the Year. Her name appears in the Games record book 19 times. Over the years, she has played for the Freedom Spirit softball team that traveled to the 2015 National Senior Games and has won numerous medals in national competitions.

Ethel hasn't stopped being an athlete. She is regularly at second base for her team, Kutchinski's Kubs, one of the four teams competing for the club championship.

An example of her thirst for competitive exercise is the recent Thanksgiving holiday: Tuesday, November 28, Ethel was at second base for a game against "Ewalds Kats." She collected two hits and scored two runs. Ethel does all her own base running.

Thursday (Thanksgiving Day, November 23), she and 7,000 runners participated in the Clearwater Turkey Trot. Ethel competed in the 5k Run, finishing five minutes faster than the year before. She was the oldest participant in the event, at age 94. Thursday is typically a game day; however, the Club schedule called for no games. Ethel filled the exercise void with a 57-minute finish at the Clearwater event.

"Holidays in the Sunshine City" in St Petersburg on Saturday, November 25, found the Kids and Kubs version of the "Energizer Bunny." walking the parade route from Albert Whitted Park along Bayshore Drive to North Straub Park. She didn't ride. She walked the entire parade distance. Ethel will again be at second base when her team takes the field on Tuesday, December 5,2023.

When asked what keeps her going, she replies, "It's all the exercise I do," Lehmann said, then listed her activities. "I play softball two times a week. I run 2.5 miles twice a week and bowl twice weekly. I'm sure that's what keeps me going."