Small Town News

Medical Lake booster club goes extra mile for school activities

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Group's organized fundraising supports all type of teams, groups

There are fewer kids having to knock on doors around Medical Lake these days looking for handouts to support their extra-curricular activities.

But that's due to smaller numbers of parhcpiants, however. It's quite possibly because there are more of us digging up divots on the fairways, popping the cork on a bottle of wine or buying hot dogs, popcorn and slices of pizza at Cardinals' athletic contests.

Last Saturday our group from the Cheney Free Press - which included publisher Harlan Shellabarger, editor John McCallum, plus hired guns John Hennsey and Benji Estrallado, put on a golf exhibition worthy of...well not a whole lot other than helping severely deplete golf ball inventories. Except for Benji that is.

But the silent - and sometimes not so silent - frustration of our hooks, slices, worm-burning drives, short putts, and yes even an occasional great shot, were all for a good cause during play in the Medical Lake High School's annual booster club golf tournament.

Golfing, along with the club's Grapes and Hops event set for later in the fall, take the place of athletes and teams individually canvassing the community in search.of donations.

The Medical Lake booster club began in its present rendition four years ago. "Originally the booster club just supported the Medical Lake baseball program," one of the organizers, Howard Jorgenson said. "In talking with the businesses in Medical Lake they were getting hit up every week for something."

"We decided if we formed a booster club that covered all sports, band, cheerleaders and everything and held two major fundraisers a year it would be a help to them (businesses) and we would be able to help all activities, not just one," Jorgenson explained.

Bruce Greene, Tom Gover and Jorgenson, along with a very supportive Chris Spring, the Cardinals athletics director, got the wheels turning. "I'll say this much, I think the school helped us as much as they could," Jorgenson said. The fledgling organization met with the school district's attorney who helped the group get legal. "He helped us set it up so that we could be part of the school and yet different."

Jorgenson said the club was fortunate to get some

good members in the beginning. "It's been amazing the amount of support we have gotten, not only from parents but from the school and actually from the town."

"I guess it's been fun for me," Jorgenson said, tongue-in-cheek. But when meetings draw like the ML boosters do - they attract on average 25-28 people to a meeting - Jorgenson said it's worthwhile. "I've been in a lot of organizations and it's tough to get people. They'll give their money but they don't want to

give up their time," Jorgenson

said.

The ML boosters seem to have broken that mold as they are generous with both time and donations.

In previous years the golf tournament was followed almost immediately by Grapes and Hops. "We changed it. It used to be in the spring but it just got to be too much to run the both of them back-to-back," Jorgenson said. The golf tournament will net "pretty close to $8, 000 this year," Jorgenson said. Grapes and Hops brings in around $10, 000 he said.

Volunteers also staff the concession stands at all Medical Lake sporting events, which adds to the coffers that get tapped pretty heavily. "We support the senior all-nighter and send everyone to Silverwood and that's about $5, 000," Jorgenson said.

This year's golf tournament drew approximately 120 players according to chairman Dean

Haynes. "About the usual," he said. Besides the golf there were silent auctions and raffles that added to the effort.

"We're pretty well limited to the high school," as far as funding teams and projects, Jorgenson said. "We spent a lot of money on the baseball field and the girls' softball field, track and tennis. We have not turned down an organization or an athletic team that has come to us for funds for a legitimate program."

Donations come in all shapes and sizes. "We do it by the $100 and the $50 donations," Jorgenson said. "We don't have the sponsors who will walk in with a $5, 000 check for us."

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.

"We decided if we

formed a booster club

that covered all sports,

band, cheerleaders and

everything and held

two major fundraisers a

year it would be a help

to them (businesses)

and we would be able

to help all activities, not

just one."

Howard Jorgenson, Medical Lake Booster Club



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© 2011 Cheney Free Press Cheney, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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