Gloucester Alumni

First-ever Pride Night nets nearly $70,000 for Gloucester High athletics
By Nesli Orhon , Correspondent
Gloucester Daily Times

In a night of music, food and reunions, the Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association's first Pride Night raised nearly $70,000 Saturday for Gloucester High School athletics.

Attended by more than 1,000 people, the auction raised the bulk of the $85,000 needed to augment athletic costs at the high school.

The association originally estimated it would raise $30,000 through Pride Night to reduce the $85,000 shortfall the school faced in its sports budget this year.

Gasper Lafata, chairman of the Pride Night committee, said Saturday's event surpassed all of his expectations and said a lot about the Gloucester community.

"It was a fantastic evening," said Lafata, a former city councilor. "A huge thank-you goes out to the community who came out to support our student-athletes and to the committee who pulled this event together."

Dick Wilson, president of the association, said he was thrilled with the event.

"I kept hearing people say all night that this event was vintage Gloucester and the city needed to have more of these types of nights," said Wilson, founder of the association and a former School Committee member. "It was a reunion of sorts for the city. Athletes ran into coaches, teammates, classmates and even into kids they had coached later on."