Running Perhams summer baseball teams is becoming a family affair.
Last year, Howie Kangas took the reigns of the VFW team for a one-year stint. This summer, Howies nephew, Luther, will manage the team.
Luther is a 2000 graduate of White Bear Lake High School, where he lettered for the varsity baseball team and played for the legion team.
After one year at Bemidji State, he transferred to Concordia College in Moorhead, where as a senior in 2004, he was named All-Conference, All-Region and team M.V.P.
After graduating with a double major in health and exercise science, Kangas had brief stints with the F-M Redhawks in the independent Northern League.
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Legion
Three people will share duties with the American Legion team. The father-son combo of Fred and Mark Sailer will be joined by Charlie Fleck.
The elder Sailer is Activities Director at PHS. After playing for the Jackets as a high schooler, Sailer went on to play at Fergus Falls Community College and Bemidji State as a catcher. When he returned to Perham, he coached the Jackets for six seasons, leading Perham to a third place finish at the State Tournament in 1984.
His son Mark is a 2004 graduate of Perham High School. He was a member of two Jacket teams that finished third at State and was team captain his senior year.
He is currently a catcher at Bemidji State, where he is a sophomore majoring in industrial technology.
Fleck will join the Sailers with Legion chores. Fleck, the coach of the three-time defending State gymnastics team at PHS, played baseball at North Dakota State as a middle infielder where he was a teammate of Perham native and current Concordia coach, Bucky Burgau.
