Volunteers turn to Inter-Lakes voters to fund lights for football field

MEREDITH — A group of grandparents from towns in the Inter-Lakes School District have been raising money to install permanent lighting at the high school athletic field and track. About halfway to their goal, the plan is to petition an article on the upcoming school district warrant for the remaining amount.

Superintendent Mary Moriarty met with the Meredith Selectboard on Dec. 22, about the lighting project, saying Light It Up Lakers raised $188,334.84 to date. According to information from the Grandparents' Club, which has been spearheading the endeavor, the cost of the project would be $325,000, and includes electrical materials, work, and showlight controls.

Other options include a proposal for $315,000 that includes electrical materials and electrical work, or $265,000, if $50,000 in electrical work and materials is donated.

Each of these options also includes $44,000 contingency, equating to $11,000 per pole.

“The lights will provide an opportunity to extend the time before and after typical school and workdays,” Moriarty said. “Open it up to community members, walking clubs, adult leagues, as well as help us become a civic and athletic commons for folks."

Moriarty said funds raised have come in a number of ways, including pledges, donations and banner sales. They have also written a grant to T-Mobile, as the company is working to distribute $25 million to 500 rural towns over a five-year period. She said the grant is competitive, and could be a long shot. The application was due at the end of 2025.

“The reality is that we have a lot of tourists in our community, and we need those places where community can come together as the community that is here year-round,” Moriarty said. “We’ve really tried to target that in our grant, as well as it being intergenerational.”

Moriarty noted many residents in the Inter-Lakes district communities don’t have children in school, so it is important to make a connection. She said the Grandparents' Club has been championing the effort from the start.

“They have invested countless number of hours and been real role models, to show how retired individuals in our community can come together to work to do things that are good for the community, and for the students of Inter-Lakes,” Moriarty said.

Moriarty said the school board decided to include a warrant article to raise the difference to install the lights. There will be continued efforts between now and March 4, including the possibility of T-Mobile grant, which will be awarded by March 1.

“The hope is that we receive the $50,000,” Moriarty said. “It is a competitive grant so those are always unknown, but the grant is really ready to go. We were able to get a combined letter from all three police chiefs for Sandwich, Center Harbor and Meredith. Again, looking at how having productive things for students to do is certainly a healthy thing for our communities.”

Moriarty said they received support from the Center Harbor and Sandwich selectboards, and she hoped to add Meredith to that list. The Grandparents' Club and the school board also wrote a letter to support the application, she said.

“I think we’ve done all we can to put our best foot forward on this,” Moriarty said.

Selectboard member Jeanie Forrester asked Moriarty if the warrant article would be for $181,000, in the case the grant was not received. Moriarty said this is the case, and added they are working on additional fundraising attempts.

“We’re looking to try to get as much funds as we can prior to that,” Moriarty said. “The students will be doing something between mid-January and February in each of our buildings. They’ll be doing something different in each building to raise funds. I’m not sure that will have a huge amount of money behind it, but it will help raise awareness, and the kids will have some skin in the game.”

Forrester asked if Moriarty had spoken to any local banks, and she said Meredith Village Savings Bank had given $50,000. That was the first donation, the largest to date.

Banners can be purchased as part of the fundraising efforts, as well. Moriarty said banners cost $2,000 for placement near stadium seating, and $1,000 around the border of the turf field.

“They will be hung from April 1, 2026, through November 30,” she said. “It is a chance to sponsor the effort, as well as advertise. Anybody can sponsor a banner, it just has to be something we can promote at the school.”

There are also five spots on the scoreboard for $50,000 spots, and $25,000 donations get a plaque on the light post. All donations will be put on a sign, as well.

After the meeting, Moriarty said in April 2024, she was approached by Bruce Jones and Paul Hackett, both grandfathers, who had ideas of alleviating lighting problems for the field. She said they had a conversation about the challenges, including increased costs that made it difficult to include something like this in the district’s budget.

“They started the charge of raising funds,” Moriarty said. “It is something they really wanted to get behind, and their goal was to use their skillsets to make this a reality.”

Jones, the president of the Grandparents' Club, said his son is a lacrosse coach, and told him it can be difficult when it gets dark early. This can cut off practice, and even the ability to hold games.

“I went and looked around, and we have this gorgeous astroturf field, with a beautiful view of the mountains, gorgeous sunset, but it is useless when the sun goes down,” Jones said. “I decided something should be done about it, and I talked to other parents and grandparents about it. The Grandparents' Club was born.”

The group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and has been working on planning and fundraising ever since.

Currently, lights are rented for the Homecoming game, or sometimes donated. The lights are for construction, not sports, which Jones said smell bad, and are not bright enough.

He said his dreams of watching children and grandchildren play under the lights appears it will become a reality.

“The best way to give is to donate directly to the school district office, just walk in or send a check,” Jones said.

Checks with “Lights Campaign” in the memo can be sent to Inter-Lakes School District, 103 Main St., Suite 2, Meredith, NH 03253, or visit interlakes.org/lights-campaign.