8th-graders dig spuds in Woodland Pupils work in potato field to raise funds for spring graduation revelry

WOODLAND – Finn Bondeson and his classmates, eighth-graders at the Woodland Consolidated School, want to do something special together next spring when they graduate from eighth grade, before they move on to Caribou High School.

The 16 pupils mostly have been together in school since pre-kindergarten, and next year they could very well be separated when they attend Caribou High School. Plans for their graduation celebration are not specific yet, but they are thinking of some kind of field trip or other festivity. To do something fun, though, they need money.

On Saturday, Bondeson, 13, was the field boss for his classmates and their parents, who were picking potatoes to raise money to help fund their plans. His father, Carl Bondeson, told his son he could do what he wanted with a small organic potato field along Route 161, just a few miles from the school.

“I decided we could have fun picking potatoes together and make some money to help the class,” he said of the project. “That’s why were are here.

“Whatever we pick, the class gets $1 per barrel,” he said, carrying his own wooden potato basket. “It’s a great day out here, and we are having fun doing this.”

The only thing that may have spoiled the teen’s fun was that the Boston Red Sox lost to the New York Yankees later in the day. He smiled when asked about the Red Sox hat he was wearing. He said his father was a Yankees fan. One of them was happy Saturday night. It was Dad.

Carl Bondeson, who was operating the digging machinery in the field off Route 161 at Woodland, was making it a fun day for his son’s classmates. Besides paying their class $1 per barrel, he also was matching whatever they earned. If the class and their parents picked 100 barrels, they would get $100, plus his matching $100.

He made the deal even sweeter when he told Debbie Fowler, one of the parent organizers, that he would send out for pizzas for lunch.

“All right,” Scott Drost, one of the eighth-graders, said when he heard.

“This is the first time a project like this is done by our school,” Fowler, who also was picking potatoes, said. “It’s kind of like a Project Graduation project, but this one is for eighth-graders.

“Most of these kids have been classmates since they started school, and next year they could be in different programs,” she said. “The parents and siblings are helping out to raise more money for whatever they decided they want to do in the spring.

“Almost every student in the class is here with family members,” she said. “We are all having fun and helping the kids at the same time.”

The Bondeson field being picked on Saturday was grown organically. There were more weeds than in fields where herbicides are used, and that meant a bit more work for the pickers.

Still, their mood was good. The sun shone brightly, making the day a pleasant one for the class project.

Kids had fun for a period when Bondeson’s digging equipment broke down. A couple of the parents assisted Bondeson, and the equipment started moving again shortly afterward. The reprieve was welcome, but then it was time to return to work.

Carl Bondeson wasted little time, digging row after row of potatoes. When the machine was working well, there was little time to rest for the young people and their parents.

They were on a mission: The more potatoes that were dug up, the more funds would go into the class’ coffers.