The Northeast Michigan (NEM) baseball league will host its 29th Annual Reunion on June 22, beginning at 11 a.m. at the Cheese House in Pinconning. The Pinny Cheese house is located near I-75 at Pinconning Road.

The NEM began in 1916 and lasted until 1986 and included teams from Bay City to Midland to Alpena. Some of the more northern teams still play games today, and some other players from the NEM play in other leagues near Detroit and in the American southwest.

The league formerly consisted of professional and minor league players, college players, and advanced sandlot ball players. Competition during the games was fierce, but all the teams and players considered each other family, and that sense of family is celebrated at the annual reunions with memories, stories (some of which are true), laughter, and song.

During the early 1990s, Cletus and his wife Kathy Vallad from Arenac County began the NEM Baseball Museum in Omer. Following Cletus’ passing, Bob Pelton initiated the annual baseball reunion. Pelton’s sense of baseball history and family kept the reunion going and the annual NEM reunion is now overseen by a younger generation of former baseball players and family.

Today, the NEM Baseball Museum — consisting of team uniforms, score books, team photos and lots of “old” baseball gear — is on display and interpreted in the museum at the Old Courthouse in Omer that is maintained by the Arenac County Historical Society. The Museum is open to the public on the second and fourth Saturdays each month from Memorial Day through Labor Day from 1 to 4 p.m., or by calling 989-876-6399 for an appointment.

Each year at the reunion, six former outstanding baseball players are inducted into their NEM Baseball Hall of Fame, recognizing players who are still with us, and those who have passed. This year’s inductees include Don Armstrong, Cal Carstens, Jim Dewald, Joe Pilot, Tony Windt, and Sid Wolfgang. Tickets may be purchased at the door for $25 to cover the cost for food and refreshments for the NEM reunion.