School Brd Approves Scoreboard Donation

By Larissa Lytwyn

Newtown’s Board of Education has approved the donation of a $20,000 5- by 14-foot scoreboard, a gift from Frank Rocca, former president of the Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball League.

Newtown resident James Berliner, owner of the insurance company Berliner-Gelfand and Co. in Bridgeport, had nominated the league for the gift. Berliner-Gelfand is a subsidiary of Safeco, a Seattle-based insurance and finance company that runs “Play Ball,” a corporate outreach program that donates more than two-dozen scoreboards to communities nationwide.

Safeco will cover the scoreboard’s $2,500 installation fee under the condition that the company’s advertising logo is printed on the board. Dan Barrett, president of the high school’s booster club, Blue and Gold, said he plans to use the board’s additional potential advertising space to affix an emblem of the Newtown Nighthawk.

“It will be similar to the high school’s Nighthawks flag,” he said.

 The scoreboard will be installed in Newtown High School’s new baseball field for the boys’ baseball season in March.

School administration, along with Blue and Gold, is open to exploring options through which they could attain similar donations for the girls’ softball team and other groups.