The first game was played in March of that year with 20 children participating. Lewis wrote rules for the new game and sent rule books out to recreation departments all over the country. In 2006, a field was dedicated and named for Lewis, "the father of tee-ball", at the Warner Robins American Little League complex. Warner Robins Little League won the 2007 Little League World Series 3–2 against Tokyo Kitasuna Little League of Tokyo, Japan. On December 9, 2008 the Little League International Board of Directors unanimously voted for Warner Robins to become the new Southeast Region Headquarters of Little League Baseball and Softball. Games began to be played in Warner Robins in 2010. The Warner Robins American Little League girls' softball team won the 2009 Little League Softball World Series by defeating Crawford, Texas, making Warner Robins the only Little League to have won both a baseball and a softball title. The Warner Robins American Little League girls' softball team defended their 2009 championship by defeating Burbank, California in the 2010 Little League Softball World Series. By doing so, Warner Robins became only the fourth Little League program to produce back-to-back championship teams, and the first since Waco, Texas, which had won in 2003–2004. The official motto of Warner Robins is "EDIMGIAFAD", which is an acronym for "Every Day In Middle Georgia Is Armed Forces Appreciation Day". (originally: Every Day In Middle Georgia Is Air Force Appreciation Day). The coining of this phrase is attributed to Dr. Dan Callahan, a local civic leader. In 2010, Dr. Callahan and a group of community leaders launched an effort to change the acronym to "EDIUSAIAFAD", as part of a movement to take the sentiment national: "Every Day in the USA is Armed Forces Appreciation Day". Robins Air Force Base is one of the largest employers in the state of Georgia and directly contributes over 25,000 military, civil service, and contractor jobs to the local economy. It has provided economic stability for Warner Robins that has benefited the entire Middle Georgia community. The city of Warner Robins is working on redeveloping and renewing areas that have suffered from urban decay and/or abandonment through neglect and city growth. The city's plans include development of a centralized downtown center "for pedestrian-oriented businesses, culture and community gathering" to be re-established at Commercial Circle in order to "connect commerce and culture back to Downtown." In May 2009 Warner Robins was listed by the Adversity Index as one of four Georgia metro areas that have had less than nine months of recession over the past fifteen years and have only recently been affected by the Global Financial Crisis of 2008–2009.