NORTHFIELD — Hoping to raise money for a new playground, the Northfield Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization has organized a Swing for the Kids Golf Tournament, which will be held Saturday at the Northfield Golf Course.
Cheryl George, co-chair of the Parent-Teacher Organization, raised the idea and decided on the date back in February.
“I brought up the idea because I had seen another PTO down South raise a lot of money through a golf tournament,” George said. “We wanted to be able to go outside the school community.”
The tournament will be the first major fundraiser towards the PTO’s goal of $140,000, which will cover the cost of new playground equipment and installation. The structures alone will cost roughly $100,000, George said.
The current playground, George said, is more than 15 years old, and some of the structures are more than 20 years old.
“They’re definitely starting to show their age,” George said, explaining that the structures are beginning to crack and fade. She said that while the structures are currently safe for children, the Parent-Teacher Organization expects the playground’s safety being an issue in the future.
“What they make now is much better than what they made 15 years ago,” she added.
As the playground is the only one in Northfield, George hopes to install a playground that will last and that the town can be proud of.
“It’ll be nice to give the town a nice play for the kids to go,” she said simply.
Registration for the tournament starts at 8 a.m., with the tournament itself kicking off at 9 a.m. Each golfer must pay a $75 entry fee, which includes course fees and access to a golf cart for 18 holes, a T-shirt, coffee and doughnuts, and a barbeque chicken dinner, which will be served at 2 p.m. Grilled hot dogs and hamburgers will also be available throughout the day.
The Parent-Teacher Organization is also holding a raffle, with prizes including gift cards to local businesses, gift baskets and two tickets to NASCAR’s New Hampshire 301 sprint cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire on July 17.
Local businesses are invited to sponsor the event for as little as $25 in exchange for advertising opportunities at the course on the day of the tournament.
Outside of the tournament, the Parent-Teacher Organization has tried other methods to raise money for the playground, though George thinks it could take several years to reach their goal. A skating event that was hosted at a rink in Greenfield earned the PTO $600, and children were encouraged to bring loose change to school to donate. The 501(c)3 organization is also working on applying for grants.
Those who are interested in participating in the tournament should call Cheryl George at 413-522-0576, call Kelly Gagnon at
413-345-0155 or email:
northfieldelementarypto@gmail.com