Thanks to a big donation by a local service club, students at Roland Michener Secondary School have a new scoreboard.
"I was here last year in the springtime, and a tournament game was going on, and I noticed that the clock wasn't working. Everybody was trying to lean over the side because they had the flip chart on the side, keeping track of the score. All the parents were getting frustrated, because nobody knew how much time was left, or what the score was," said John Curley, a member of the Porcupine Kinsmen, and a former city councillor.
He inquired and found out that the old clock was the original one, from way back when he attended the school.
"The clock was old, and it was time to get it changed. They haven't had the opportunity or the finances to change it. So I approached the Porcupine Kinsmen to see if they would be kind enough to donate the clock. John Bohdanec, a teacher here, along with Mike Polowy made the presentation to the club. The club accepted the offer to purchase it. So the money came forward and it was just a matter of getting the clock delivered here and installed," said Curley.
Roland Michener, which also includes intermediate grade students, has two gymnasiums across the hall from each other. A much newer and larger gym where the high schoolers play, and the 'Spirit Gym' which is the original from the school's early days. The Spirit Gym also includes a stage. It was refurbished last year, with new a floor and a fresh coat of paint.
The clock was installed just in time for the Rebels Classic basketball tournament taking place on Thursday.
"Its something that was really needed here, for the students, and the parents" said Curley.
The Porcupine Kinsmen also recently purchased new uniforms for the junior girls team.
"Their uniforms were a little outdated, so again the Kinsmen came through with the donation."
The new scoreboard in the Spirit Gym cost around $5,000 dollars. Curley said it should be a big morale boost, especially for the intermediate level teams.
The 'Spirit Gym' at Roland Michener Secondary School. Andrew Autio for TimminsToday "Its great, I'm glad the Kinsmen were able to do this for them" he said, "Its nice to able to see something that wasn't put there in 1967."
The Porcupine Kinsmen have fundraising efforts ongoing year round. One of their main sources of income is the operation of the concession stand at the Whitney Arena.
"All of the dollars raised by the Porcupine Kinsmen stay right here in the community. Its all volunteer work so when they're working at the arena, or working at a bingo, or doing various fundraising in the community, they can be assured that all of the dollars are spent back here in the community. I'm thankful I'm part of the group. I'm proud that the club has given something back to where a majority of us went to school," said Curley.
Adam Montrose, a special needs teacher and coach of the junior Rebels girls team, said the new scoreboard is a welcome edition to the school.
"It's nice to see, now nobody's guessing how much time is left, what the score is, because we were using a portable plug-in clock for the Spirit Gym. So we have a nice scoreboard on the big gym, now we have one in here. Especially with the jerseys now, they look good, and they seem happy and they're playing hard" he said.
The 6th annual Rebels Classic tournament gets underway Thursday morning, and features schools from all over the city.
