Written by By Mike LaBella
mlabella@eagletribune.com
HAVERHILL — Last month’s Haverhill Stadium Music Festival didn’t raise as much money for sports user fees at the high school as was hoped.
Only 80 tickets at $20 apiece were sold at the gate, for a total of just $1,600. But as the old saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining.
In this case, it was the generous support of a few that helped bring the total receipts to more than $8,000. That money will be used to lower the cost of user fees for student athletes at Haverhill High School this fall.
Local businessman Fred Habeeb came up with the idea to hold a concert after hearing from local parents who told him they have a hard time affording their children’s user fees. It costs $275 to play one sport this year. There is a $550 individual maximum and an $850 maximum per family.
“We had tremendous support for the concert from the business community, individuals and local foundations, but gate admissions were very disappointing,” Habeeb said. “The bands were great, the weather was beautiful, but unfortunately, there weren’t as many people there as we had hoped.”
He expected a crowd of more than 600 people, but got about half that, including many volunteers who were there. The Elle Gallo Band, Air Tight, the B Street Bombers and the James Montgomery Blues Band donated their services to the event.
“If you look at the number of students in sports, if we had all those parents come to this event, we would have had at least 1,000 people,” Habeeb said. “I know many who came were older people, adults whose children are not in school.”
Habeeb said the bulk of the concert tickets were purchased by several supporters, including the Dennis M. Sughrue Scholarship Committee, which bought $2,500 worth of tickets, and Attorney Scott Gleason, who bought $1,500 worth.
“We also had $500 from each of our eight sponsors, and many folks bought $150 books of tickets,” Habeeb said. “And we received $10,000 worth of free radio advertising from The River (92.5 FM).”
Garin Veris, Haverhill High’s new athletics director, said he must bring in $200,000 in user fees this year. He said all fall athletes will see some reduction in their fees. The sale of concert tickets by booster clubs will go to reduce fees for their sports, while foundation money will be spread across the board.
“It’s not a tremendous amount, but any amount we have coming in at this stage is a bonus,” he said. “And we thank Fred and Pete (Shanahan) and the booster clubs and the bands and the community for supporting us.”
Shanahan, the retired Haverhill High athletic director, was one of several people who helped coordinate the concert.
Roughly 390 students have gone out for fall sports, which is about a 10 percent increase over last year at this time, Veris said. Fall sports include football, golf, soccer, girls swimming, cross county, field hockey, volleyball and cheerleading.
Last year, parents paid $170,000 in user fees, while donations from sports booster clubs, individuals, foundations and businesses amounted to $30,000. “We’re not going to cover the whole expense of fees this year, but with community and business support, it is a doable proposition,” Veris said.
Habeeb is already thinking about what kind of show he would try to put on next year, and he expects it, too, would take place at the stadium.
“I want to do it again and coordinate it with Garin Veris,” he said. “We might bring in some big name bands, although the bands this year were fabulous. The bottom line is, if Haverhill residents do not come out to support it, it doesn’t matter who you bring.”
Veris plans to work closely with the high school booster club this year to help all athletes better afford their user fees.
“If we’re on the same page and I’m aware of what each club is doing, that helps me in the fundraising I do as AD,” he said.
ÔÇæÔÇæÔÇæ
Join the discussion. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.
