'Pucker up, Mrs. Berget'

SANDPOINT — Shrieks and laughter filled the Southside Elementary gym on Thursday, as kindergartners through sixth graders relished the opportunity to watch their principal kiss a pig.

The humorous spectacle was the reward for raising $681.81, part of the Kiss the Pig fundraiser, which benefited Sandpoint Little League and the winning school. For two weeks students rounded up as much change as possible, driven by the specter of watching principal Kathy Berget kiss Sugar, a pig provided by Angus Travers from Wood’s Meat.

Berget was a great sport, even letting her sixth graders pick out the shade of lipstick she would wear for the swine smooch. Berget marveled at her student’s energy and gumption during the fundraising.

“Every day they’d come in and put quarters in, say things like ‘pucker up, Mrs. Berget,’” she said. “It was highly competitive, a lot of thoughts and strategies went into it way beyond just a donor jar. I wasn’t worried until I had to actually kiss.”

After her sixth graders held a mirror for her to apply the red lipstick, Berget knelt down and fulfilled her requirement, as the students yelled their approval. Jeff Johnson, who volunteers to take care of the area baseball and softball fields and also umpires, was on hand in his baseball gear to hold Sugar in place and rule the kiss official.

Before the fateful kiss, Berget asked the students at the assembly if any of them had ever kissed a pig, and truthfully or not, a smattering of hands went up. One student cracked wise that the pig didn’t want to kiss Mrs. Berget, drawing a few laughs.

In the end, the real winner was Sandpoint Little League, which cleared $2,800 after all was said and done. All of the Lake Pend Oreille Schools participated, with the winner determined by a per-student ratio.

The fundraiser was the brainchild of Bill Hawkins of Litehouse Foods, who did a google search for baseball fundraisers and saw the idea. Hawkins enjoyed seeing the community support shown during the Lost in the 50s parade, and saw this as an opportunity for students to raise money in lieu of tapping local businesses, a more common method.

“We chose principals, and getting the schools to give back shows it’s their community too,” said Hawkins, who felt the students’ zeal was the highlight. “For sure seeing the kids’ excitement and reaction when Mrs. Berget laid that big old juicy kiss on that pig’s lips. It’s a great culmination to the event and school year.”

Northside should take pride in raising $720.30, the most of any school, and it’s a safe bet principal Perky Smith-Hagadone breathed a heavy sigh of relief after her students’ yeoman effort.

Sandpoint Little League president Tommy Groff said the $2,800 will go to good use for area baseball.

“This is phenomenal, much needed,” he said. “More importantly, it helped bring awareness to Little League which saw more than 350 players register this year. On behalf of all 350 players, coaches and parents of Sandpoint Little League, we sincerely thank everyone who helped in this fun event.”