Donations Help Save Free Recreation Event

Thanks to some generosity from local businesses and residents, the fee has been waived for a popular annual event and multiple damaged items will be remedied at no cost to taxpayers.

Hampton Recreation recently received $1,115 in donations from a slew of businesses for next week's , a once-free annual program for which the department was going to charge $5.

Recreation Director Dyana Martin said she was incredibly appreciative of those donations, which are as follows:

• $250 from the Hampton Rod and Gun Club
• $50 from
• $25 from
• $20 from
• $15 from
• $30 from
• $100 from Hesser and Associates
• $50 from
• $25 from
• $50 from , and
• $500 from Loco Sports

Hampton Rec also received gift cards from Walmart and the Kittery Trading Post for the derby, which is on Saturday, May 12.

The donations continue a long string of recent generosity given to the department, as businesses and residents have also pitched in to offset other program costs and to replace and restore town property.

Martin said donated paint for the top of the Depot Square gazebo before the highly-successful , and she said Pat Cotter of donated his time and skills to paint "that hard to reach area."

donated $1,000 to help replace some of the items damaged during a at . Martin said not all of the items have yet been replaced.

Martin said Loco Sports also donated $1,500 to offset the cost of the massive last month. She said Cookies By Design and Playland Arcade also donated prizes for the dig.

The recreation department has also been the beneficiary of other kinds of donations and support recently, as and Bauer Hockey recently donated 100 new sticks to the department's adult street hockey league.