New Scoreboard Installed at Jr. Raider Field

A group of volunteers installed a new scoreboard at the Jr. Raider football field this past Saturday. The field, located at Portland Middle School, is the home of the Portland Jr. Raider youth football and cheer programs which serves approximately 200 area fourth through eighth graders each year.

Volunteers Chris Vallier, Jeff Campbell, Jeremy Zbytowski, Kyle Balderson and Neal Swain donated their expertise and a large chunk of their Saturday to complete the install. Christian Jensen also assisted with the wireless control unit. The volunteers saved the non-profit Jr. Raiders thousands of dollars on the install.

Their employer, Home Works Tri-County Electric Cooperative, graciously allowed them to use the company’s equipment to complete the work efficiently and safely.

Jr. Raider board president Pete Hoffmeyer said, “Just can’t say enough to thank the guys at Tri-County for installing the scoreboard. We have such an amazing community where people will step up to help make things like this happen. On behalf of the board I would like to thank those guys.”

The Jr. Raiders purchased the new scoreboard for $10,350 using the associations own funds and are actively searching for a local business or businesses to purchase advertising space on the sign to offset the impact on program finances.

The scoreboard that it replaces was purchased in 1990 and had been in use at the middle school since 2002. The association is working towards possibly selling or auctioning off the old scoreboard as a fundraiser.

Jr. Raiders, officially known as Portland Tackle Football Association Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Photos by Evelyn Walkington-Jensen and Jim Townsend.