FF ATHLETIC BOOSTERS

INSTALLS NEW WALL MATS IN GYMNASIUM

By: David Deschesne

The Fort Fairfield Athletic Boosters Club (FFABC) recently purchased and installed new mats at each end of the Fort Fairfield High School gymnasium to replace the older mats that were there. “Part of the reason we purchased the mats was for safety,” said Larry Gardner, president of FFABC, “We only had 16 feet of mat on each endline before, and now we have 32 feet on each so there’s a lot more protection for the players.

“The other part obviously was for school spirit and motivation.”

The mats were unveiled during a highly motivational and energetic pep rally in front of the entire K-12 student population.

While Presque Isle High School has a painted version of their mascot on their court's wall mats, the mats at FFHS were professionally printed via an offset press designed to print to vinyl from any supplied photographic image. “I don't know of any other gym in the County, or even Maine for that matter, that would have something in full color like this,” said Gardner. “As far as I'm concerned, we have a pretty special school that cares about its students and student athletes and does special things for them. “

Fort Fairfield High School was recently voted one of the nation’s best schools by U.S. News & World Report.Gardner says he had been working on this project since October. “Nobody else knew about this except for a couple of people who I ran the design by to get their input.”

The mats were purchased from Iowa-based, Sports Graphics. The FFABC also ordered protective covers to be placed over the mats during baseball season or other times when they might get damaged.

“I want to thanks those who helped me with the installation as well; Mark Jenkins, Tim Watt, John McCrea, Kirby Doughty, Todd Alley, Cody Closson and Camille St.Pierre. They came in on a Sunday night before the pep rally to install them so no one would see them until the next morning at the rally.”