Touchdown club needs more parents on board

Although the Muskie football team’s season ended almost a month ago, things are just heating up for the Touchdown Club’s off-season fundraising schedule, highlighted by the need for more parents to get on board.
“We want more involvement from the parents of football players. We also want continuous involvement . . . in the fundraising plans,” noted longtime club president Dave Ogilvie.
The club decided at a meeting last week to restructure its membership. It also has to fill gaps to make up for turnover on the executive, including replacing Ogilvie at the helm.
“I’m stepping down as president,” he said, explaining he first got involved when his son, Dennis, played as a Muskie. “I haven’t had anybody in the program for many years.”
Ogilvie will stay on as past president.
But on top of replacing him on the executive, the Touchdown Club also is looking to expand the number of parent members.
The plan is to have 10 parents—two from each grade at the high school and two members-at-large—to help out with fundraising, organizing events, and generally raising the team’s profile in the community.
Only four parents currently are members, meaning there are plenty of spaces to fill. Ogilvie stressed the need for parents to get on board during the off-season in order to be part of the planning process.
This includes parents of students currently in Grade 8, though they’re still months away from even beginning their football careers at Fort High.
Ogilvie implored those parents that “if their kids are thinking of playing football, consider donating your time to the Touchdown Club.”
“We need to attract members,” agreed one parent closely associated with the club. “We only have a few parents who are coming out routinely.
“We don’t need that many, but we do need a few people. In actual fact, the parents that do come out, there’s not a lot of time commitment asked.”
Ogilvie said while attending monthly meetings (which run about 90 minutes each) in the off-season and helping out with a handful of fundraisers a year isn’t terribly demanding, it’s very important to the team.
“I think it’s an important part of the program, the fundraising—and without it, they’d have a tough time running the team,” he warned.
Ogilvie said next year’s fundraising likely will be more of the same, although the team is looking into selling permanent advertising on the fence that surrounds the Muskies’ home field behind Fort High.
A number of other fundraisers also are happening in the short-term, including a raffle for a tool kit courtesy of Acklands-Grainger.
Tickets can be purchased at its 740 Sixth St. W. location or from any member of the football team.
The Muskies also will hold a “tag day” at local businesses around town this coming Saturday (Nov. 24), with the always popular Muskie discount cards still available at McTaggarts and the Fort Frances Times office.
The Touchdown Club will hold its next meeting Tuesday, Dec. 11 at Fort Frances High School. For more information, call Ogilvie at 482-2540.