BIDDEFORD — On Monday, there were a number of smiling faces at St. James School when Monsignor Rene Mathieu, the school’s pastor, accepted a check for $34,800 from members of the former Knights of Columbus Council 260. The money will be used for the school’s athletic program.
“I’m so excited,” said school Principal Patricia Berthiaume.
The school’s sports program is offered to students in grades six through eight. The program includes boys baseball and girls softball, and boys and girls teams for basketball, soccer and track.
“This money is a big asset to the athletic program,” said Dan Villemanre, who co-directs the program with Scot Vachon.
The money will be used for the purchase of equipment and uniforms, he said; some of the uniforms are at least 20 years old.
About half the eligible students participate in at least one sport, he said. The school charges a $45 participation fee for student athletes, said Villemanre, but that barely covers the cost of transportation to events and game officials.
“I was so excited when Pat (Berthiaume) told me” about the donation, he said. “This is something we’ve needed for so long.”
The donation comes from funds left over from the sale of property on Pool Street, said Don Couture, the former treasurer of the Knights of Columbus Council 260, which dissolved last year due to the lack of membership.
In 2006, the Knights’ business arm, the Christopher Fraternal Association, sold the property to the City of Biddeford for $150,000, he said.
The property included the West-Brook Skating Rink and a building that now houses the city’s public access station. Most of the money was used to pay off the mortgage of the building and other bills, said Couture.
The group decided to donate the leftover money to St. James, said Philip Masse, a member of the former Knights organization, in order to help keep the school operating and help with some of the expenses in running a Catholic school.
The money will be held in a trust, said Berthiaume, and a percentage of the funds will be used annually to purchase needed items.
This is one of the largest donations the school has received, she said. The largest donation to the school was for $525,000 in 2007 from the late Wilfrid Fortier.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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