Two plan to help Kids Kove

Thursday, February 4, 2010

By KAREN LOVETT

Staff Writer

MERRIMACK – Two civic organizations in town are inviting residents to have some fun while raising money for the Kids Kove playground revitalization project.

The playground, at Twin Bridge Park on Daniel Webster Highway, is 20 years old and in need of an overhaul. The project is being spearheaded by the Merrimack Rotary Club. The club hopes to raise $100,000 and recruit hundreds of volunteers to rebuild the playground by the end of the year or early 2011.

To support the effort, the Merrimack Lions Club is asking folks to channel their inner investigator for a scavenger hunt, which will also benefit some of the club’s other service projects.

Here’s how it works:

Anyone interested in the hunt will buy a ticket to participate at Brown’s Village Depot Store at 454 Daniel Webster Highway. Tickets – which cost $10 for an individual and $35 for a team of four – will be sold Saturdays and Sundays until April 17.

In early March, those who have signed up will be given a list of 250 items to hunt for during upcoming weeks. Item examples include a pogo stick, bonsai tree, hour glass, suspenders, harmonica and a baseball cap. Each item has an assigned point value.

Participants present their collected items periodically to judges at the store, who will tally the points. The top five point-earners will be listed each week on local television.

The person or team with the most points at the end is eligible for a prize, including $200 cash for first place, $100 for second place and $50 for third place.

Donations to the hunt and a portion of ticket sales will benefit the Kids Cove project. Some funds will go toward Lions causes, such as fuel assistance, the purchase of eyeglasses and donations to local food pantries.

In addition, the Merrimack Rotary Club will hold a “bowl-a-thon” for high school-age teens. To participate, teams of four or five are being asked to raise $100 per bowler, money that will support the playground project. Bowling fees will be covered by the Friends of Kids Kove and Merrimack Ten Pin.

The bowl-a-thon will be held March 6 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Merrimack Ten Pin on Daniel Webster Highway.

Teens can seek pledge sheets from Peter Bergeron, assistant principal at Merrimack High School, or download them at http://sites.google.com/site/kidskoveproject/files.

For more information about the hunt, contact Barbara Pearson at merrimacklions@gmail.com.

For more information on the bowl-a-thon, or to volunteer, contact Rotarian John Lyons at johnlyons67@gmail.com or 493-8124.

Karen Lovett can be reached at 594-6402 or klovett@nashuatelegraph.com.