The new structure greeting Cooney fans arriving at sporting events at the athletic complex at the Oconomowoc Senior High School may look like a simple ticket booth, but it is much more.

Finished in time for the Oconomowoc Sports Booster Club tailgate party two weeks ago (and the OHS-Beaver Dam football) game, the new structure is the first physical element built as part of Athletic Fields Forever, the community/OSBC/Oconomowoc School District plan to renovate and expand the school’s outdoor athletic facilities.

The Sports Booster Club is driving the $3.9 million fundraising campaign that will provide funds for the multi-year project. Visit OSBC website site.

As such it represents the power of a community banding together to raise funds that otherwise might not be available during a time when school districts are struggling to raise bare minimal operating funds.

For more on Athletic Fields Forever, check out this section of the website.

From a practical perspective, the new masonry structure replaces an outdated and small  wood ticket booth that sat on a corner of the parking lot north of the football stadium.  That congested location’s high-pedestrian and vehicular traffic plus its potential for safety-related problems when there were lines of people purchasing tickets and cars dropping off fans made its replacement a priority.

Built with a variation of a bridge loan from the OASD, the new structure has three ticket windows and in mostly covered so fans purchasing tickets are shielded from adverse weather. It is also located far enough from the old location that the safety issues are no longer a concern.

Oliver Construction served as the general contractor and it and several sub-contractors were able to finish building the structure below the original $165,000 estimate. At a recent OASD Board of Education meeting assistant superintendent Mike Barry said that donated labor and materials may bring the final cost down by as much as $30,000 to $40,000.

Also new to the complex is a two-tower entrance way which will channel fans to the stadium. When finished the two towers will featured an archway that will announce the new name of the stadium. As part of the Athletic Fields Forever fundraising campaign, naming rights for the field are available. View article on the various naming rights opportunities.

During a ribbon-cutting ceremony held to mark the opening of the ticket booth and entrance/gateway, OSBC president Tina McKandes thanked Oliver Construction and other local businesses, plus a group of volunteers for their work on the structure.

Participating in the ribbon-cutting ceremony were past OSBC presidents Paul Kopydlowski, far left, and Tim Kay; current president Tina McKandes; OHS principal Joseph Moylan; OASD Board of Education member Sandy Schick and OSBC board members Staci Guzanick, Tammy Derynda, and Lori Merkt. In the back row, from left, at John Griswold, OASD board member; Mike Bickler, a former OSBC president and current board of education member; David Guckenberger, OASD board member, and Keith Farley, another former OSBC president and a partner at Oliver Construction.

Photo courtesy of Sue Boyer.

Building the ticket booth/entrance/gateway at the high school involved considerable volunteer labor and donations of materials and supplies from the community. Here is a list of some of them. We apologize if we’ve forgotten anyone. All were acknowledged at the Sept. 14 ribbon-cutting ceremony at the high school by OSBC President Tina McKandes. These donations enables the booth/entrance portion of the project to come in under budget, perhaps by as much as $30,000 to $40,000.

• John Griswold
• Mark Griswold
• Mike Neff
• Rob Prest

R Domres Construction

• Jack, Sam, Jordan, and Blake Loppnow
• Tim Miller

Dave and John Guckenberger

Coaches:

• Todd Irvine
• Mark Jappinen
• Arno Kirchenwitz
• Kurt Melton
• Jim O’leary
• Scott Raduka
• Bob Shea
• Mike Teofilo

Gifts in Kind/Donations to AFF from other Contractors;

• Ace Hardware of Oconomowoc…..Window Materials
• Wolf Paving ……Asphalt Price Reduction
• MJS Landscaping, Bob Ackerman….Landscape work, topsoil enhancement, fine grading, seeding, No Cost……A Total Donation to the OSBC/OASD !!
• Fieldstone Glass, Spencer Frosch……..Transaction Window protection panels
• Ganos Decorative Concrete, Mike Ganos……High End Concrete sealer for interior and exterior concrete, price reduction on concrete slab pour
• Oliver Construction Co…….Keith Farley

View other photos of volunteers at work.

Since the 2003/2004 school year, community financial support of the OSBC have enabled us to contribute more than $700,000 to support athlete programs at the high school and intermediate schools. The largest single effort to date is the more than $340,000 used to build the PDC facility at the the high school. Other support has ranged from helping underwrite attendance of coaches at seminars to floor mats for the wrestling teams to new tennis courts. Typically, coaches for the various teams submit requests for items to the athletic director who then brings requests to the OSBC. In general, the items supported by the OSBC are items that are not budgeted for by the Oconomowoc Area School District. Below is a partial list of items made possible by community support channeled through the OSBC.

Athletic trainer
Assistance coaches
Hockey ice time
Coaching clinics
Volleyball training tapes
Sailing team support
Bowling team support
Ski racing timing system
Defibriator
Golf balls
PDC
Ski team hill rental fees
Pressbox renovation
Stadium sound system
New tennis courts
Game balls
Football 7-man sled
Track timing system
Batting tunnel
Leon Seagrave seminar
Scorer’s table
Gymnastics uneven bars
PDC ice machine
Long jump pads
Summer basketball league entry fees
Bleacher end caps
Pom team support
Leadership retreat
Gymnastics spring floor
Wrestling mats
Softball team support
Cheerleader team mats
Golf range nets
Cross country clock
Field house batting cage
Matrix timer – PDC
Swim board for the YMCA
Pom team support
Fire Dept ATV trailer for EMTs
Goalie equipment for the lacrosse team
Middle school hurdles
Portable soccer goals
Trophy case at OHS
Hurdles for the Field House
Coach recognition
Athletic Fields Forever
Baseball training DVDs
Baseball equipment
Golf bags
Volleyball standards for the Field House
Gymnastics landing mats
Hurdles for outside track
Cross country/track tent

As part of the Athletic Fields Forever campaign, certain facilities will be renamed. Naming rights opportunities are listed below along with contact information.

Football and Track Stadium – $750,000

Soccer Stadium – $250,000

Football “Turf” Field – $200,000

Tennis Pavilion – $200,000

Soccer Stadium Scoreboard – $100,000 SOLD!

Track – $100,000

Soccer Field – $100,000

Softball Field – $75,000

Baseball Field – $75,000

For additional information contact Scott Raduka at (262) 560-3110.

Oconomowoc Sports Booster Club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.  Gifts are deductible as allowed by law.

The Oconomowoc Sports Booster Club Gold Card sale, a key annual fund raising event, is underway.

OHS athletes from all sports teams are participating by selling the Gold Cards to family members, relatives, friends and neighbors. All proceeds from the sale go to the Booster Club and ultimately right back to support our student athletes  their teams. Every athlete is asked to sell 10-21 Gold cards with prizes starting when 10 cards are sold.

Bob Johnson, a director of the OSBC, says that while the club encourages participate on the part of coaches, teams, and athletes, it is not mandatory and has no bearing on an individual’s standing with any sports team nor does it affect the level of OSBC funding support for a team.

New this year, the club is giving  the fall sports teams an extra incentive. If the team averages at least five cards sold per athlete, the team will get $3 per card sold as a bonus.

Johnson says, “We will take in to account winter and spring sports request if they had athletes that sold. Our goal with the incentive is to increase overall card sales, which will provide more funds for all sports.”

The Gold Cards sell for $20 each. The cards still have the normal merchants that offer various discounts that are good over and over again for a year. Jack Safro Ford this year is offering a free oil change! This one deal pays for the card.

The great deals from Subway, Valvoline, and all the others can still be used as in the past. Quiznos Sub again has two great deals. Todd’s Grill offers four uses of $5 off and Olympia has some great discounts for skiing and golf. Domino’s again has a great deal on the front of the card. Burke’s is back this year and is offering four uses of a free appetizer.

Other local vendors participating include Books & Company, Great Clips, Silver Lake Auto Center, Whelan’s Coffee & Ice Cream, The Chocolate Factory, Rosatti’s, Java Hut, Cousin’s Subs, Fiesta Cancun, Taco Bell, Rocky Rocco, Arby’s, Papa Murphy’s, Sammy’s Taste of Chicago, Culver’s, Schlotzsky’s Deli,  and Subway.

In addition to the deals on the card, the purchaser can get extra deals online by getting a free membership to AbenityRewards.com. The link to the site is on top of the card. There they can gets deals to places like Sam’s Club ($10-$25 gift card w/membership), Marcus Theaters, Office Depot, Dell, Southwest Vacations, Sprint, Amazon, and many others.

Cards were handed out on Monday, Aug. 6, and again on Tuesday, Aug. 14. Sales proceeds must be turned in on either Aug. 23 or Aug. 30, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the OHS Field House. Apparel (t-shirts and shorts) for the top sellers will be available at those times.

Parents interested in selling cards to friends, co-workers, etc., are encouraged to do so.

Prizes**

Sell 10:

Get a Shirt & Free card for every 10 sold (2 at 20, 3 at 30…)

Sell 21:

Get both Shirt and Shorts

Get in the drawing for a $100 Gift Card

Get a Under Armour Cooney ¼ zip embroidered pullover or some other item

Top Seller:

Gets a Gift Card valued at $1 per card sold

** To guarantee a seller receives their shirts, shorts and hooded sweatshirt, they must come back to the high school on a collection day to turn in their money and unsold cards.

For more information about the Gold Card program, contact Johnson at [email protected].