New scoreboard installed at Washington softball field

Fans coming to watch and cheer on the Washington Demons softball team this summer will be among the first to see the new scoreboard that was recently installed at the field.

The old board had been in use for many years.

?It was at the old field across the street and was moved here when the field moved,? says Erin Smith, with the Washington Athletic Boosters.

?By best estimates, the previous scoreboard had been used for more than 20 years,? Smith says. ?It was time for a new, modern scoreboard.?

Funding for the new board came from two places.

?We, as Boosters, put up $5,000 and we received a $15,000 grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation,? Smith says.

?Mose Levy donated the poles on which the scoreboard stands. They were very generous with that. It helped us out and we saved money that way.?

This isn?t the first time the Boosters has helped to fund a scoreboard.

?We have replaced the soccer scoreboard and have helped write the grant for the scoreboard at the baseball field as well,? Smith says.

?We?re working on the scoreboards. We have other projects we would love to work on, such as lights for the soccer field.

?That?s one of the things we would like to look into. However we can help, we do.?

Not only have the Boosters purchased the new scoreboard, they have made other recent purchases.

?We just bought a mower for the softball field,? Smith says. ?We bought some iPads for both the girls and boys soccer teams.

?We bought new nets for them as well. Now we will move on to the next activity.?

How do the Boosters raise funds? From fundraisers held throughout the year.

?We get funds from our membership drive and concession stands at football games and track meets,? Smith says.

?Those are our main ones, but we also hold a bowling tournament. We help with the Snowball Classic, which is the girls basketball tournament.

?We work with the girls? basketball team and we split the money from that.?

Getting involved with the boosters is easy, too, Smith says.

?We have a form for people to fill out or they can contact one of us and we can get them the form.

?It?s fast. They put down at what level they would like to sponsor and we go from there.?