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By Grace Giannatsis

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NATICK – The Charles River Rotary Club 9th Annual Scoopapalooza drew in crowds of ice cream loving
locals on Saturday, June 25, at the Natick Common to enjoy something sweet along with raising money
for multiple organizations.

Charles River Rotary Club President Jon Fetherston, who has participated in the event all nine years, said

“It’s changed over the years and it’s definitely busier every year, it’s getting bigger every year,” he said.

Fetherston believes 2022 was the busiest the event has ever been.

“I couldn’t believe how long the lines were,” he said. The weather helped as temperatures hovered around 90 degrees today.

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The first 100 participants to show up to the Scoopapalooza were granted a free pink spoon and wristband, but donations were encouraged.

Admission to the event was $7 per person with children under 2 years of age being free.

“We haven’t counted all the proceeds yet, but I bet you it’s close to $20,000,” said Fetherston.

Locals of all ages littered the common grounds devouring New England themed flavors of Hood Ice Cream donated by the brand.

“It’s just a guess,” said Fetherston, “but it felt like there were thousands of people there,” said the Rotary Club President.

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All of the funds raised by the Scoopapalooza will get donated directly back to the various projects the club contributes to, the largest of which being their Keefe Regional Technical School scholarship fund. The scholarships are given to graduating seniors for continuing their education in trade fields.

“We do a lot of work with the food pantries in MetroWest and the Natick Service Council as well” added Fetherston, “and we do special needs programs. I am the father of an adult autistic child, so giving back to the special needs community is very important to me.”

Along with soldiers from the U.S. Army Natick Soldier System Center, members of the Natick and Framingham Police were posted under tents scooping ice cream for eager customers.

Flavors dished out included Cape Cod Fudge Shop, Martha’s Vineyard Black Raspberry, Nantucket
Nutty Cone, and Maine Sweet Blueberry.

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Grace Giannatsis is a SOURCE summer intern. She is a 2022 Hofstra University graduate where she majored in Journalism and minored in Writing Studies. She enjoys covering local charities, live performances and road races and aspires to have a career in photojournalism. In her free time she likes to run, hike, camp and bake and these days can often be found reading in her back garden accompanied by an iced coffee.

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PHOTOS BY Grace Giannatsis

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By editor

Susan Petroni is the former editor for SOURCE. She is the founder of the former news site, which as of May 1, 2023, is now a self-publishing community bulletin board. The website no longer has a journalist but a webmaster.