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August 2024 NEWFOUNDLAKELIFE.COM Page 15
Fund Raiser for Tracey MacLean
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By Donna RhoDes
BRISTOL – When news spread throughout the Newfound Region on July 13th that a well- loved member of the community was killed in a tragic motor ve- hicle accident in Gilford, it im- mediately set into action a group of women who know first hand how special Tracey MacLean was and wanted to do all they could to care for her children.
Tracey was the mom who made every athlete in the New- found Area School District, as well as in the Plymouth schools where she worked, feel proud. Her love for photography and children took her to every game where she made sure photos of each athlete were captured, then shared them with their families. Besides action shots, she took individual photos of the senior athletes each year then blew them up for keepsakes on special poster board. On Senior Game Day, those posters and even a special banner she made was dis- played, congratulating them on their hard work and successes.
Parents’ appreciation for all she did for their children has been boundless over the years, so two dozen of them immediately formed “Tracey’s Mom Squad” and rushed in to now support her children. While her daugh- ter, Hayleigh Pabst, recently graduated college and lives now in Warren, Tracey’s sons Landon and Ryder will be entering their sophomore and senior years in high school this September and live in Bristol. Relatives have
been staying with her sons. Rec- ognizing all the family is going through, the Mom Squad or- ganized a meal train to bring dinner to them each night, then began work on a special fund- raising event, scheduled to take place on August 4th at Kelley Park in Bristol.
“One of our goals is to make sure her two youngest children have a high school experience like our kids have had because of her,” said mom Brenda Sullivan.
The ultimate goal is to sup- port the children and financially secure their future in the New- found community, she added.
The Tracey MacLean Fam- ily Benefit will present a way for the community to come together and not only help reach those goals, but enjoy themselves at the same time.
So far there are thousands of dollars in raffle items donated to the cause through the generosity of local businesses. Just over a week into the organization of the event, they received donations of everything from handcrafted cribbage boards to lift tickets for Ragged Mountain Ski Area, a cord of wood, passes to Clark’s Trading Post, an overnight stay at Woodstock Inn and dozens of gift cards to other locations; more were still pouring in. Two other special items up for raf- fle are an autographed book by Ernest Thompson, author and director of “On Golden Pond,” along with a special raf- fle for photography from Trac- ey’s cousin, Becca June Garone
of Garone Photography, taken during her excursions to Africa. Tickets for the photography raf- fle can be purchased through a link on the Garone Photography Facebook page.
In addition to the raffles, for a small donation people can also purchase Memory Brace- lets of Tracey, and money raised through the sale of hot dogs, burgers, pizza slices and other food and drinks will be added into a fund for her family.
Live music will also ring out from the pavilion that afternoon, beginning with the band Meta- morphosis and followed by two others. Metamorphosis includes Tracey’s cousin Bradley Ma- cLean and his friends. There will also be cornhole games and a wiffle ball game for those who wish to join in on the fun.
Besides the event, Tracey’s uncle, Dan MacLean, has set up a Go Fund Me page, called “Tracey’s Kids” where people can make donations. A Venmo account is also in place and can be found at Dan MacLean@ nadycats33 for those who would prefer to donate through that method. A QR code on posters distributed throughout the New- found communities is yet another way to get to the fundraising plat- forms and help support her sons and their financial needs, both now and in the future. These ac- counts will continue to be open beyond the August 4th event.
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