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Brentwood Press - AntiochPress_08.22.08 - Index

AUGUST 22, 2008 education brentwoodpress.com | 9A
Liberty Boosters club keeps on truckin’
Annual raffle
supports athletics
at Liberty High
by Rick Lemyre
Staff Writer
The names on the list read like a Who’s
Who of historic far East County: Dwelly,
Simoni, Stonebarger, Ghillarducci, Kemp,
Byer, Ghiggeri, Zamora and DeJesus. They
are farmers, merchants, educators and citizens
of the year, and they’re some of the
people who helped forge the community
into what it is today.
And while the contributions they’ve
made are many and varied, the list is one
place you can find all of them together. It’s
the roll of people who have been Liberty
High School Athletic Boosters Truck Raffle
ticket holders for more than 20 years.
“I’d buy a ticket even if they weren’t
giving away a truck,” said Sharon DeJesus
who, along with husband Earnie, has been
involved in the raffle since it began in 1980.
“There’s not one thing I can really say is the
reason why. Our family is involved in a lot
of sports, but there’s also the Liberty tradition,
which is more than 100 years old. I
want to help keep it going.”
Boosters President Mark Stone said
that the proceeds of the raffle, which go
toward helping provide athletic facilities at
the school, are more important than ever.
The campus has a new gymnasium and
newly refurbished football field and track,
but there are still lots of things that need to
be done.
“There are 19 different sports programs
at Liberty,” said Stone. “The new
(facilities) are great, but there are a lot of
things missing, and that’s the reason we’re
raising money.”
A recent tour of the facilities showed
undulating playing fields, a vandalized
trailer that serves as the snack bar, decrepit
and inadequate restrooms at the football
stadium, and a varsity baseball field with
no outfield fence – the only such field in the
league, according to varsity baseball coach
Greg Borland.
“I’d like to see Liberty have a field
equal to Heritage and Freedom,” said Borland,
referring to the newer schools in the
Liberty Union High School District. The
district “has always been behind me with
whatever I need the best they can, but their
hands are tied, to a certain extent.”
Stone said, although, that the Boosters’
contributions (about $40,000 per year) can’t
solve all the problems, providing additional
money that the school board can use to make
at least some improvements is especially important
now. Not only are budgets tight due
to the economy, but Liberty will host three
big events this football season: Home games
against Heritage and Freedom, plus the annual
Homecoming spectacle.
This batting cage is the kind of aging facility that the Liberty Athletic Boosters
hope they will help replace with proceeds from their annual Truck Raffle.
While other school might have nicer facilities,
one thing they can’t match is the century-old
history of Liberty as a school, and
as an important part of the community.
“The school has been the focal point
of a lot of peoples’ family activities,” said
Mark Dwelly, a raffle participant for 23
years. “People have bonded, either through
athletics or things like the music and theater
programs, and formed friendships that have
lasted a lifetime.”
Photo by Richard Wisdom
Like DeJesus, Dwelley said the raffle is
about far more than a truck. In addition to
supporting athletics, the dinner at which the
drawing takes place is “a great social event,
a chance to get together with a lot of great
people at a very, very fun event.”
Stone said the social and monetary aspects
of the Boosters efforts are important,
but so is the continuation of the way people
see Boosters page 14A