Stadium Should Be

Renamed Blue & Gold

To the Editor:

Your recent editorial urged that Newtown High School’s Bruce Jenner Stadium be renamed. I heartily concur. The new name should be the Blue and Gold Stadium. Not because these are the school’s colors but rather to honor the present, past, and future members of the Newtown High School Blue and Gold Booster Club.

Over the years Blue and Gold Booster Club members have worked tirelessly on behalf of the community. They have vigorously supported our teams and our students, providing emotional and financial support as well as scholarships to graduating students and even sustenance to hungry fans. All too often their activities have gone unnoticed and unappreciated. Nevertheless they are working throughout the year, making Newtown a better place to live.

The stadium’s lights and concession stand are an excellent example of what Blue and Gold Booster Club members do without fanfare or recognition. When the town elected to reseed the Jenner Stadium field, the Blue and Gold Club decided to put in lights so that the field can be used by a variety of teams and at times when more parents can attend the games. Installing the lights required that the old concession stand be replaced in order to accommodate an electrical panel. This need in turn lead to a decision to erect, also at the Booster Club’s expense, a much improved concession stand/storage facility. By the time all the work was done, the cost for the lights and the new building was almost $400,000, and Newtown now has a stadium that is the equal of any high school facility in Connecticut. Blue and Gold Club members, with the support of many generous contributors and after several years of hard work, have been able in the past month to pay off the loan that financed these projects. That effort was well publicized, but what is less known is that a number of the club’s officers personally guaranteed the repayment of that bank loan. This was done purely as a community service in order to benefit our town. In my estimation we do not need to look to the Olympics or to the past to find heroes in Newtown.

Even though club members are not seeking personal recognition, all too often their efforts are not even rewarded with a simple thank you. Naming the field Blue and Gold Stadium would in a small way constitute a continuing thank you by the town to the past, present, and future members of the Blue and Gold Boosters Club. We should seize that opportunity.

Sincerely yours,

Bill McClure

32 Ashford Lane                             October 4, 2000