Dasani water-bottle filling station is hot spot at GHS, thanks to Varsity Club

GILFORD — Foot traffic outside the gymnasium at the end of the high school school day is hectic at best, but the one place students seem to ignore is the Dasani water vending machine.

Instead, and thanks to the fund-raising efforts of the Varsity Club, students make beelines for the water-bottle filling machine that since its installation of few months ago has filled 1,592 — and counting — bottles of water.

The GHS Varsity Club has a rich tradition of raising money for sports-related equipment. In the past, the club raised money and funded the public announcement system and bought the scoring table for the gymnasium, purchases some padded chairs, some playground equipment and some items in the weight room.

Most notably, the Varsity Club buys the uniform for the Golden Eagle school mascot, who attends most sporting events.

This year, the four seniors who run the Varsity Club decided to raise money for a water-bottle station — a $1,500 item that is working its way into prepared school administration budgets but one that administrators won't have to worry about at Gilford High School.

The club raised the money at the Homecoming Dance, the Winter Carnival, and selling hotdogs at the December Craft Fair.

Club President Kelsey Buckley and Vice-President Mikaela Mattice said yesterday that they had seen them in other schools and in airports and thought it would be a great way for students to save money on water and to slow down the purchase of plastic bottles which are rapidly becoming an environmental concern.

"I'm surprised at how popular it's become," said Mattice, noting that students will walk half-way around school just to fill their water bottles.

The water bottle cooler is located where the former "old-style" water fountain was and the plumbing was already in place, meaning all the students had to do was pay for the machine and the installation.

Both girls noted that nobody ever used the old water fountain but the water bottle filling station is one of the busiest spots in school now.

CAPTION: Varsity Club President Kelsey Buckley and Vice-President Mikaela Mattice fill their water bottles at the water-bottle cooler paid for through this year's fund-raising efforts. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Gail Ober)