Allie King
Staff Writer
At Manhattan Beach’s annual hometown fair, various Mira Costa related groups had booths at the fair, raising a lot of money to benefit their club, team or department.
Every year, a variety of MCHS related clubs, teams and departments have booths at the
hometown fair to help support them. It is a major fundraising event, which supports many local groups, campaigns, and schools such as MCHS.
“Kids would be surprised by how much it costs to run a sports team,” girls soccer Booster
President John Edmonds said, “All the money comes from the booster clubs fundraising that is done.”
The Mira Costa football team continued its tradition of selling tri-tip sandwiches and
sliders. This year, they had over 100 volunteers which consisted of parents, players, and alumni. This is the fourth year football has done the booth. Each year, the profit has increased due to the fact that customers from previous years who enjoyed the booth’ stood return to buy tri-tip sandwiches. The booth has won the title of best food booth at the fair in the past. This year, they raised $16,000 in sales.
“Our booth did really well,” costa football player Joe Anderson said, “We have been successful in the last couple of years. It’s great how many kids come out to show support for our team. It shows how dedicated we are.”
This year, the Costa basketball, aquatics (water polo, swim team), and the boys soccer,
were fortunate to have won the raffle for the beer garden. Parents of athletes volunteered and
were able to help raise money for the teams because students are under the age of 21.
“We were very fortunate to have won this year,” water polo booster Tina Raney
said “Each year different groups enter to be apart of the beer garden and this year the aquatics won which enabled the water polo teams and swim teams to sell beer in the garden.”
To raise money for their team, girl’s water polo had a beverage booth at the hometown
fair. They sold water, Gatorade, and coconut water. “I feel that the sports booths are a great idea because they help support our teams,” freshman girls water polo player Addi Bross said, “Our booth was very successful because it was a hot weekend and people were in a hurry to find a cold drink to help them cool down.”
To benefit their team, Costa’s dance team sold nachos.
“I thought the dance team nacho booth was successful this year,” freshmen dance team
member Emily Duong said, “It was fun to communicate with the customers and take their
orders.”
The girls soccer and lacrosse teams had their annual set up hair spray painting booth.
“It was great seeing how many fellow Costa students came out to support their teams and the school,” freshmen costa girls soccer player Delaney Whittet said, “I think we did a good job in raising money and hope to see even more of Costa’s booths next year.”
All the money raised at the hometown fair benefits the various teams, clubs, departments, and groups who have booths at the fair. In order to raise money, booster clubs were formed to help take care of all the fundraising necessary to run a team/group.
“We use the money for uniforms, to travel to tournaments, and to help pay the coaches,”
Edmonds said, “The girl’s soccer booster supports the team. It’s things like a hair spray painting booth that help raise money in order to fulfill all it is that needs to be done expense-wise with the team.”
The cost for a booth at the hometown fair is $80 for a 10’x10′ space. Additional fees
are required if the booth needs storage or electrical capabilities. The Manhattan Beach Old Hometown Fair was started by a group of residents in 1972 who wanted to promote community spirit within Manhattan Beach.
“We love having the Mira Costa groups along with our other local schools,” Hometown
paid games chair Bea Zimbalist “It just reinforces our great sense of community in our town, and hopefully it’s a great fundraiser for the groups.”
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