Let There Be (Stadium) Light
Let There Be (Stadium) Light
Frank Pitillo Memorial Fund Reaches Goal, Installs New Stadium Lights at ECS
The Varsity Boys Soccer team had their first practice under the lights last Sunday night. Photos / Chris Edwards
If you drove by Ellicottville Central School Sunday night, you may have noticed a luminous show of lights coming from the football field out back. That’s because the new stadium lights provided by the Frank Pitillo Memorial Fund have been installed and turned on! The Ellicottville Varsity Boys Soccer team gave the new lights their first official test run during the team’s start-of-the-season midnight scrimmage. (That’s showing a lot of love for their sport right there!)
ellicottvilleNOW took the opportunity to speak with Nick Pitillo, organizer of the Frank Pitillo Memorial Fund, about the new lights, the recent golf tournament fundraiser, and what this endeavor means to him and his family.
The tournament was a sold out success. “The event was HUGE!” Nick said. “We were able to make $65,000+ in funds for the lights. Our sponsors were amazing and we had a full field of players. By all accounts it was a fantastic day and enjoyed by all.”
A special thank you was expressed for the event’s Champion Sponsors - The Weir Family Foundation, Holiday Valley and Cattaraugus County Bank, and to all the other sponsors that hopped onboard as well. “And we can’t forget the AMAZING community we live in, as they made this possible!” said Nick. “The golf tournament was exactly what we needed to push this campaign over the top! We are hopeful that there will be very little additional expenses to be covered. However, due to popular demand, we have already locked in a date for next year’s golf tournament; we plan to make this an annual event!”
The lights they strived so hard to fundraise for are up. That’s a huge milestone! We talked about that process with Nick a bit. “This entire thing started a few years ago when I went to see a football game at the field for the first time in many years. It was clear that the lights were not up to proper lighting standards. After meeting with school officials last year, we decided to start a campaign to replace the lights. We had a kick-off party on Nov. 23rd, and were off and running. In nine months we were able to raise virtually all the money needed.”
They received three bids for the project and selected Ferguson Electric for the job, which local Mike Brennan (who has two kiddos that will be playing on the field) handled beautifully. They enlisted SEI to take care of the final design and submission, and they were quickly able to get state approval for the project. In the span of nine months, this went from a conversation to NEW LIGHTS that generations to come will benefit from!
So where does the fund go from here? What are their plans moving forward? “We have some additional work to do with final financials and want to make sure all of our vendors are paid in full,” Explained Nick. “After that is complete, we will be using any remaining funds and additional efforts to continue, and possibly expand, the Frank Pitillo Memorial Scholarship Program, which currently gives 3 x $1,000 college scholarships to ECS seniors who exemplify Frank's traits as a Scholar Athlete, a Leader, and an Entrepreneur.”
Nick added that, “The Varsity Boys Soccer team had their first practice under the lights last Sunday night, the Little League team will be playing their first game this Saturday, and the first high school football game is scheduled for Sept. 22nd vs. Wilson. We are hoping to host a community event at that point.”
Help keep the momentum going with donations to the Frank Pitillo Memorial Scholarship Fund. Visit their Facebook page for details on how you can contribute and to keep up-to-date on future events and fundraisers.
