Fundraiser for Johnston football to be held Oct. 1

By PETE FONTAINE

The X’s and O’s have been diagrammed and football folks like Ted Nelson, Tony Cimaglia and Frank Nasisi say they’ve got a plan that will produce a guaranteed “Friday Night Lights” victory.

But this contest, you see, will be staged on Thursday evening – Oct. 1 – at a rather unique venue and won’t include blocking, tackling or anything close to one of those grand gridiron games.

“We’re calling it a Friday Night Lights Fundraiser,” Ted Nelson, an executive staffer with OPTX Rhode Island, explained. “There will be fun, food, football fellowship and much, much more and our goal is to simply raise money for our own Johnston (High) football Panthers.”

Like most public school sports programs, the Panthers grid gang has expenses that are not covered in the annual JHS budget.

“And that’s why we’re having this fundraiser,” Nelson noted. “We simply want to raise funds – privately – for the Johnston High School football program.”

Nelson, whose son Kyle is the Panthers’ up-and-coming quarterback, and long-time friends Cimaglia and Nasisi are coordinating the Friday Night Lights Fundraiser that will be held – as noted – on Thursday evening, Oct. 1 at The Last Resort, 325 Farnum Pike in Smithfield.

“We were taking in a recent Panther practice and started talking football, fundraisers … all the stuff dads do while watching their sons,” Nelson explained. “We also talked about when we became friends back when our kids were teammates on a Johnston youth team several years ago and how there’s a need for a football support group.”

After which, Nelson continued “Tony (Cimaglia), and Frank (Nasisi) – who by the way is a member of the (Johnston High School) Athletic Hall of Fame – and I then reached out to another friend from our kids’ youth football days and told him what we’re trying to do.”

That friend was David DiDonato, who owns and operates The Last Resort, a 6,500 square foot restaurant/pub that has an outdoor tented area for 200 people, an Olympic size swimming pool, sanded volleyball court and tiki bar.

“It’s a perfect place for this fundraiser,” Nelson noted. “We’ll have food, football via television and the Thursday Night NFL game, raffles and cigars all for just $25 per person.”

Nelson said the Friday Night Lights Fundraiser will begin at 7 p.m. and is open to any football fan that would like to help the JHS Panthers program. For tickets, people are asked to call Cimaglia at (401) 569-2433, Nelson at (401) 231-0615 or The Last Resort at (401) 349-3500.

Anyone who’d like to purchase a ticket – or even make a donation that will help the Panthers’ football program – should also call either Cimaglia or Nelson.