Sixth Annual Laconia Sports Benefit this Friday

The Sixth Annual Laconia Sports Benefit/Auction will be held Friday, May 16 at Goodfella's Restaurant on Main Street in downtown Laconia. The popular yearly event suports the children and sports of today, helping to build the leaders of tomorrow.

Each year since its inception, the Sports Benefit has enjoyed a tremendous outpouring of support from area merchants, who give either a cash donation, or something which can be sold at auction to raise money for the program. As in past years, PK Zyla will be on hand to help move it along, with the auction scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

A special guest will be Steve Leach, formerly of the Bruins hockey team, and Goodfella's will be serving up a buffet dinner beginning at 5:30 p.m. The price of tickets for the buffet are only $10 per person, fully half of which is being donated back to the kids by Goodfella's.

As was widely reported last year, John Ganong, who for five years had taken on the key reponsibilities for organizing the annual event, announced that he intended to step aside, hopeful that someone else would step forward and take the reins to keep the tradition alive.

Thanks to Laconia residents Tony and Candy Pederzani, his wish came true, and even though Ganong will still be on hand to root them on, he's taking a lesser role in this year's auction.

"We hope that everyone will continue to show their generosity in the future, the same as they have in the past, so that Tony and Candy can keep this going for another six years," Ganong said.

Ganong's tireless efforts have been credited with the success of the program in helping both teams and individuals, and in creating a scholarship fund in the memory of John Vollmerding. Ganong's hoping that this year's event will bring in enough to start a second scholarship fund to honor Paul "Sharkey."