Boosters, Mershons give back to IW

Athletes and students are enjoying the benefits of the recently completed weight room at Illini West High School.

The weight room was the final project funded by the now defunct Carthage Sports Boosters. The group used the final $57,000 in their account to pay for materials for the project. All labor was volunteer.

“That was the one stipulation by the Carthage School Board,” said former Carthage Sports Booster President, Dave Ard. “

Ard estimates over 40 people helped during the project. The cement foundation was poured in October 2007, and Ard turned over the keys to Illini West High School the day before school started.

The plans for the building were based on the weight room built by Central High School.

“We went down there for an open house when they dedicated their building,” said Ard. “We piggy-backed their architect's plan. We did change the size and made it larger.”

The building is used by athletes for weight training. It's also open to students who choose a weight training class as part of the physical education curriculum.

The building is 2,400 square feet. Equipment is a combination of Carthage High School and LaHarpe High School equipment that was refurbished and painted.

About $4,500 worth of equipment was purchased to fill in gaps.

An appreciation dinner was held at the Carthage Golf Club on Aug. 24, for all the volunteers.

A new playoff sign was donated to the lllini West football team in the name of Terry Mershon. The sign stands in the back of the north end zone along with the Fuzz Berges Field sign.

“They took the old Fuzz Berges Field sign down and cleaned it up,” said Ard. “They put that sign back up and put the new playoff sign right in front of it with the top just below the lettering.”

The playoff sign lists each football season of Illini West High School which began in 2007. Information on the sign includes the year, playoff round the team finished in, and the record of the team for each year. The words are painted on each season. The sign has enough room for 15 seasons.

The Mershon family also donated $3,400 to the Illini West Sports Boosters. Both donations were made prior to the season-opening football game on Friday, Aug. 29. The playoff sign was also erected that day.