LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / April 5, 2000

NORCO – After more than a year of fund-raising efforts, Sacred Heart School made a leap forward toward its new gymnasium with donations totaling $18,000 from Orion Refining Corp., the Shaw Group and Foster Wheeler.The donations put Sacred Heart at the point where construction of the 100×100-foot gym can begin, with ground-breaking planned next month and construction time expected to take six months.

Principal Colleen Remont said, “We’re thrilled about it and what it represents – cooperation between the school, the community and industry.”The fund-raising for a gym at Sacred Heart was launched last year by a $50,000 donation from Sacred Heart alumnus Trey Boucvalt, now a businessman.

With that the 240-student school raised another $162,000, now boosted to $230,000. Eventually, the school aims at raising $350,000.The gym will include concession areas, locker and storage rooms and restrooms, Remont added, and serve not only the school’s physical education program but also its volleyball and basketball teams.

The teams now, through a 1990 agreement with Orion, conduct practices and games at the old New Sarpy Elementary gym on the Orion plant site.

Orion’s partnership with Sacred Heart also includes an annual golf tournament to benefit the school. This year’s tournament is scheduled May22 at Ormond Country Club in Destrehan.

Students at the school also showed their enthusiasm for the Orion donation at a recent ceremony with a short skit parodying the Frankie and Johnny’s Furniture Store TV commercials, which feature a “special man” who sits and yells, “Let ’em have it!” Orion’s Glenn McGinnis, the Shaw Group’s Jim Earley and Foster Wheeler’s Paul Mannion each presented their donations.

McGinnis commented, “Sacred Heart School is an important part of the Norco community. Many of the children of Orion’s employees attend SacredHeart, so we’ve always viewed this partnership as a meaningful way to give something back.”Sacred Heart’s gym will also be available to public events, which delighted District 6 Parish Councilman Lance Marino, who added that parish recreation department personnel will assist in supervising public activities at the gym.

Anyone interested in making a donation to the school may call Remont at 754-9958.

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