On January 30th and 31st, the Cannon Falls Elementary School accomplished their yearly PTO Mini-Golf Fundraiser. With a different, amusing display for 18 varied holes, this entertaining course was enough to brighten anyone’s day. The PTO Mini-golf was started by former elementary principal, Neil Koven from watching the High School Golf team play at the elementary fields.  Each individual hole was created by each elementary school grade, and a number of other groups contributed to create a hole for the course. A number of creators chipped in their own ideas, such as the Bomber Dance Team, the Girl Scouts, and the PTO group themselves to name a few. There is also a contest between these holes, which may be enough to drive a wedge between any group. The contest is a tally on what is the best hole of the course, and this year the trophy went to the 5th grader’s hole, with the theme Summer Fun- a hole with a Lake Bylsby Set-up, including a canoe and wooden rafters.

The fundraising itself goes to teacher requests, such as funding for the yearly Eagle Bluff field trip, and adding on new playground equipment, after the removal of some playground equipment due to safety reasons over the past fall. To do this, the school would need a very long drive in the fundraising money, which was accomplished with the Miniature Golf. Normally there would be roughly 450 people who would come to play the game of gentlemen and plaid shirts, but this year there was a tremendous increase to an estimated 659 people. The PTO has been hosting the Mini-Golf Fundraiser for the past five years and is co-run by first year Heather Johnson and Erica Heinlein. The Event Coordinator for the Mini-Golf was Heather Johnson, who also deals with the PTO Treasury. Set-up had taken roughly a quarter of the day, with many volunteers recruited directly by Mrs. Johnson or via Facebook. “We had a very good turnout,” states Heather Johnson. “For every hole had at least one community business as a sponsor and as many as six holes had a secondary sponsor which is an excellent thing.” Results were superb, as the PTO raised an estimated $4,500 to add onto the thriving Elementary Life.

The PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization) has two fundraisers every year, the Mini-Golf and a Circus. The Circus will be held on April 15th, which is the last big fundraiser of the year. There will be a Silent Auction at the Circus, along with many other circus-related activities. With both the Circus and the Miniature Golf, it’s always a great thing to help out the community and putt a little bit of your day, at the course.