HOULTON, Maine — It has been more than 20 years since gamers have been able to purchase a Houlton version of the popular board game “Monopoly.”
But that is about to change as the Houlton High School Alumni Association will soon introduce a new version of “Houlton-opoly.” The project serves as a fundraiser for the group’s scholarship program.
“We felt it was time to do this project again because a number of businesses have changed over the past 20 years,” said Nancy Ketch of the Class of 1982, who is president of the Houlton Alumni Association.
Players of the game will be able to “buy” properties such as Mooers Realty, Elm Tree Diner, LP, and J.McLaughlin Construction, among others. The group has sold about 70 percent of the spaces needed to fill out the board before it can be produced, Ketch said.
-
- Houlton’s version of the popular board game “Monopoly” is currently being developed by the Houlton Alumni Association for the upcoming holiday season. Sales of the game will benefit the association’s scholarship fund. (Joseph Cyr)
Every aspect of the board game will have a Houlton connection, down to the tokens used as game pieces. For instance, Thirty-Two Below is sponsoring a token in the shape of an ice cream truck and the Houlton Higher Education Center will have a graduation cap as a playable piece.
“Our alums are extremely generous in supporting the Alumni Association and allowing us, in turn, to support the school and our graduates”, stated Jerry York, Class of 1970, and chairman of the association’s fundraising committee. “But the need for scholarships is continually growing, so we wanted to look at additional avenues to raise funds for these important causes.”
The last time “Houlton-opoly” was produced, it raised funds for playground equipment at Houlton Southside School.
“The town has changed a lot in 20 years, so we thought this would be a good time to do an updated version of the game,” said Fundraising Co-Chairman Jon McLaughlin, Class of 1973.
Committee member Fred Grant, Class of 1988, added, “We see this as a way to capture a picture of our community in time and preserve it for years to come … and, we think people will really get a kick out of playing a familiar game with local businesses, landmarks and icons featured on the board.”
The group plans to order 1,000 games and anticipates them being available for the holidays.
The town businesses are not the only thing that has changed over 20 years. The options to be included in the games also have been expanded and improved.
“The companies are able to do so much more in terms of production quality,” said Ketch. “We are able to customize almost every aspect of the game from the money, the board and the property spaces to the game cards, the tray inserts and the tokens. We loved that we were able to have custom tokens that would be unique to our community. We are certain this will make these games really collectible and they will be wonderful gifts.”
When the game is completed, it will be available for sale locally for $30. There also will be an option to have them shipped.
For more information, contact Ketch at 521-7250.
