Touchdown Club seeks volunteers

The main fundraising tool for the Fort High Muskies’ football team has kept the sport alive in Fort Frances, but is in need of more volunteers to maintain the momentum.
“We are trying to get a few more parents involved, and we hope to do that by putting in a system so that as your child moves up in school, you move up in terms of the committee,” current president Wendy Brunetta said.
“For example, the president would have a child in Grade 12, vice-president in Grade 11, and so on, and each year people will move up,” she added.
The Muskie Touchdown Club is a group of parents, and at times other community members, who work towards raising money for the football program. A meeting is scheduled for Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. at Family and Children’s Services, and parents are encouraged to take part.
“The Touchdown Club definitely has more room for parents to get involved, as it seems to be the executive of the club ends up doing 90 percent of the work,” Fort High athletic director Shane Bliss said.
The program has come a long way with the guidance of Bliss and long-time club member, Dave Ogilvie, who stepped down as president after this past season.
“I got involved about 12 years ago and I kind of hung around and filled up water bottles,” Ogilvie said with a laugh. “At the time, the Touchdown Club was just two guys but once they moved on we decided to get a committee going and I was asked to take part.”
Five years ago, Ogilvie got a call from then Fort High principal Ian Simpson, telling him the football program would have no choice but to shut down operations.
“He told me that the Touchdown Club and the school were in the hole to the tune of $19,000,” Ogilvie recalled. “I convinced Ian to give us a chance to work things out and took over as chair at that time. Myself and Danette Allen, Chane Rissman, Richard Boileau, there were a lot of people who worked hard at it and we managed to run the program out of the hole.
“Overspending from the coaching staff was the initial problem, but between Ian and Shane Bliss, who took over his present job, all requests for spending had to go through Bliss who turned around and either used the school account or he would come directly to the Touchdown Club with exactly how much he needed,” he added.
“I credit Shane for his tight control of finances. It’s been a long haul but I figured I owed it to the team to stick with it until things were straightened out,” noted Ogilvie.
The main fundraising initiative for the club is their discount card sales, which will kick off its drive in the fall.
“For $20, people can buy a card and get really good discounts from a number of businesses around Fort Frances,” Brunetta praised. “It helps us afford the bus trips to Winnipeg, which is a huge expense. We also do a ‘tag day,’ where players stand at Tim Hortons or Canadian Tire and collect donations for the team. We appreciate everyone’s support and look forward to a great season.”
The cost for a day trip to Winnipeg can cost as much as $1,800, and gas prices continue to rise, making raising enough funds that much more imperative.
The high school also has the Blue Line Club for the boys’ hockey team, and the Red Line Club for the girls’ team, as well as the Muskie Sports Association (MSA) which raises funds for the rest of the sports played at the school.
Bliss said the MSA is holding a golf tournament Aug. 30 at Kitchen Creek, and is currently looking for sponsorship on holes and with prize donations.