Nice Example of Bringing People and Government Together

You may have noticed the new basketball backboards and rims at Madison's Surf Club. They were installed in May and have been a huge hit with everyone! Kids and adults have been enjoying play on the regulation-sized equipment all summer long. All this was made possible because a group of people and several organizations wanted it to happen.

In December 2009, I approached Scot Erskine of the Madison Beach & Rec Department about conducting a fundraising project to replace the outdated backboards on the south courts. He was very open minded from the start and supported the idea immediately. After gaining all the necessary town board approvals, the entire cost-more than $3,000-was raised through private and corporate donations. Special thanks for their significant contributions toward this project go to the Madison Youth Basketball Association, The Old Boys Basketball League, People's United Bank, Bill Barker's Madison Hoop Dreams, Computer Operation and Performance Specialists, the Staten family, and everyone else who donated. The equipment purchase and proper installation was made possible by two local Madison businesses-Mike Ciotti and Eric Hill of GameTime Sales-as well as Walt Camp from Welding Works. Without their support, we couldn't have made this happen.

Although small compared to other town issues, this successful project serves as a nice example of bringing people and government together for the betterment of our community.

Mike Fazio
Madison