A locally owned gas station in Oconto Falls will turn fill-ups into cash for park modifications at Memorial Field.
On Thursday, Andy Mercier announced the opening of the Panther Pride Pump at Mercier’s Fastop, 221 N. Chestnut Ave. Two cents of every gallon of gas sold at pumps 5 and 6 will go to Panther Pride, an organization committed to improving athletic facilities for Oconto Falls students.
Since Mercier owns the station, the money will come directly from his profits.
“I can’t give a big donation all at once so I’m contributing in smaller amounts over a length of time,” he said.
Oconto Falls Athletic Director Jerry Moynihan heard about Mercier’s proposal last month and was immediately on board.
“Andy approached us about three weeks ago and said, ‘What do you think?’” Moynihan said. “I think it’s the greatest thing when a business approaches you about project support.”
Mercier’s son-in-law came up with the idea for the pump after seeing an example in Coleman.
“He said, ‘You should do this here,’” Mercier said.
The Riiser-owned RStore gas stations in Pound and Gillett implemented pride pumps this fall to raise money for the Coleman and Gillett school districts. The Gillett School District recently received its first quarterly check of almost $630. Coleman also received its first check, $221, for about a month of gas pumping.
Fastop’s project has been in the works for a few months. Wisconsin Graphics Media of Oconto Falls created the signs displayed at the pump. Petroleum Equipment modified the pumps so the volume of gas sold could be monitored. Mercier said he had no way to determine how much gas was sold at the pump previously.
“But now I can monitor the volume sold at that pump per day,” he said.
On Dec. 9, 156 gallons of fuel were pumped at the Pride Pump.
Mercier said he hopes this will make a difference in the community.
“I know that a lot of kids have been pushing for a skate park at Memorial Field. It would be nice to see Panther Pride do something like that for the kids,” he said.
In November, the Oconto Falls City Council gave the go-ahead to build a baseball field in place of the football field and track at Memorial Field. It was the first stage of a five-stage proposal presented by Oconto Falls Parks and Recreation Director Sheila Manns that includes options for a skateboard area, baseball and softball field renovations, and other upgrades.
Before the debut of ST Paper Stadium this fall at the high school and softball fields in spring 2014, the school district leased Memorial Field from the city.
Moynihan said the Memorial Field project will take time to complete.
“There’s a lot to do over there,” he said, “adding a field, potentially changing things, updating the concession stands and bathrooms.”
He said Panther Pride has met with a grant writing organization to see if grants are available.
“We’ll see where that goes,” Moynihan said.
“We’re excited that a person in the community is stepping up and standing alongside us,” Panther Pride President Mike Bouche said. “The community needed this, and sometimes you just have to dive in.”
Mercier knows about diving in. He said he didn’t confer with Shell before implementing the Panther Pride Pump.
“Shell is pretty particular about their store and pumps. They want all the pumps to be the same,” he said. “I haven’t checked with them about it, so I just went ahead and did it. For the community.”
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