Rotary opens new fields

Palm Coast Observer
News

It was the culmination of two years of work when members of the Rotary Club of Flagler Beach and community members joined for the dedication of the new Rotary Sports Fields Fed. 17, on E. Drain St. in Bunnell.

The $56,600 project was born when a representative of the city of Bunnell spoke at a Flagler Beach Rotary meeting. The main topic was Bunnell’s birthday, but it was mentioned that it would be great to have more sports fields for the kids in the Drain St. neighborhood.

“As the grant writer for the club, a lightbulb went off and I thought, ‘We’ve built wells in Africa, we’ve sponsored orphanages in Paraguay, we do all kinds of things all over the world and in our community, why would we not jump on this?’” Roseanne Stocker said, as the rain started to fall on the new fields Tuesday afternoon.

Stocker said that the wonderful thing about Rotary is that someone has an idea, two other people say, “Let’s do it,” and then it’s like the ripples from a stone in the water: It just grows and it grows and things get done. The fields were a partnership of the Flagler Beach Rotary with the city of Bunnell and the G.W. Carver Foundation. They were funded by a $24,600 grant from Rotary District 6970 and the remaining $32,000 was raised in Flagler County by the Rotary Clubs of Flagler County and Palm Coast, Dr. Curtis Schalit and his wife, Maria, and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.

“I think the fields exemplify what is great about Flagler County,” Stocker said.

The fields are open to all, but, she added, “our idea was that some of the children who live here, who are most at risk, don’t get to play in organized league sports because there is so much driving all over the county and it involves a lot of parental commitment that is sometimes hard. ”

One of the leagues that will be taking advantage of the fields is the Flagler Wolf Pack football program.

Maria Shalit, president of Flagler Wolf Pack, said: “It’s crucial for our program to have fields located in Bunnell. Most of our kids actually live within walking distance to these fields and a lot of them come from single-family homes and they don’t really have transportation.”