Community must unite to fix Memorial Field grandstands
You don't always get a chance to make an immediate difference.
We all try to do the right thing, hoping that somebody goes to bed a little less hungry, a little less scared, that everyone has a roof over their head and that the community is just a little bit better than when we got up that morning.
Wednesday, we all have a chance to do something that will help everyone from Sandpoint High School students to Festival at Sandpoint concert-goers to everyone in-between.
It's a one-day community fundraiser to raise $30,000 to repair the aging Memorial Field grandstands and make them structurally sound. The 24-hour fundraiser — spearheaded by Panhandle State Bank, Litehouse and The Daily Bee — will feature car washes, ice cream socials and a host of other money-making efforts as they camp out at the field for the 24-hour marathon event.
Sandpoint Parks and Recreation Director Kim Woodruff is hoping that Bonner County residents will respond with a "big community hug" — similar to the successful skate park drive.
After all, it's either raise the money to fix the stands, or ban use of the top half of the covered bleachers.
That means more than 400 parents, grandparents and friends won't have a place to sit at SHS's upcoming graduation. It means that festival-goers may find fewer spots to enjoy what promising to be a magical 2006 season. What happens this fall when Bulldog football looks to light up the scoreboard?
And that's just the start of what failing to fix the grandstands may cost us.
The cost will be much more than the $30,000 price tag to add another 10-20 years of useful life to the grandstands. Or even the estimated $500,000 to completely upgrade the 50-year-old structure.
If we fail to fix the grandstands, if we ignore this chance to "pay it forward" or give in celebration of the special times we've all had at Memorial Field over the years, we lose a little bit of what makes Bonner County special, or what makes this "home."
If we accept this challenge, work would start Friday and we can have the grandstands fixed by graduation. How's that for immediate gratification?
PSB and Litehouse are already kicking in $10,000 each toward the renovation project and The Festival at Sandpoint also is expected to contribute a substantial cash donation.
The least every one of us can do is kick in what we can — whether it's a penny or a $100.
Look for more on the fundraiser in Wednesday's Bee or on local radio stations.
Caroline Lobsinger is the managing editor of The Daily Bee.