By John McLoone

The Hastings School District and its athletics department got a much-deserved pat on the back – and a nice check – from the Hastings Rotary Club last week.

Rotarian Craig Beissel appeared before the school board at its monthly meeting Wednesday night and thanked coaches, athletic director Trent Hanson, and many athletes who pitched in to help during the highly-successful Hastings Rotary Rivertown Live concert held at Levee Park Sept. 11.

“Our event was very successful,” said Beissel. He said that at first he contacted the football and wrestling coaches and then elicited the aid of Hanson to line up other athletes to help with setup and cleanup of the event, which featured national headliners Sara Evans, Gabby Barrett and Chris Kroeze.

Athletes and coaches put in many hours to help with the event, including getting to be up close with the musicians while equipment on the stages was swapped out.

Sunday morning after the big night, athletes returned for cleanup with several football players sticking around to help dismantle the main stage.

“Without all the donated hours, we wouldn’t have been able to have such a great event,” said Beissel. “Your staff was great. Upon communicating with Trent, I was met with enthusiasm and the want to help out. If it wasn’t for the athletic department of Hastings High School, we wouldn’t have been able to handle the curveballs thrown at us during the event. The entire interaction with the Hastings athletic department was amazing.”

Beissel presented the school board with a check from the Hastings Rotary Club for the Hastings Raider Booster Club. The donation brought a round of applause from the school board and those present at the meeting.