The "Save Our School" Charles M. Schwab School Restoration Project will be having fundraising efforts from 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the fourth annual End of Summer Festival at Eurana Park.

The event will include bounce houses by the basketball courts, and need volunteers to help with manning the children's activities.The first public meeting for the restoration organization in Weatherly was held last week.The organization's board members and leadership are:Charlie Palermo (Class of '78), president; Brian O'Donnell, vice president; Lori Clabia, treasurer; Alyssa Hinkle, secretary; Laura Walters, incorporator of the 501(c)(3), and attorney Daniel Miscavige. Members are Dawn Bellizia, Philip Jeffries, Paula Thomas, Michele Sparich, Lee Zink (Class of '74) and Weatherly Mayor Tom Connors.The mission is to "coordinate community efforts to acquire the historic Schwab School and facilitate its transfer back to public use as a gift to the Borough of Weatherly."The Charles M. Schwab school building was built in 1901, and closed its doors after the class of 1991 graduated. It is a majestic edifice right in the forefront of the town with a beautiful clock tower dome.When asked what would happen with any money raised in the event the group doesn't buy the building, Palermo said the bylaws have a provision to donate the money to a charity or nonprofit organization.He said he didn't have a charity in mind, "Because we are not going to fail."Palermo didn't disclose the amount of money raised so far, because the project's board doesn't want to give a heads-up to the realty company in terms of sale negotiations. He said the donations have been coming in steadily, but they still have a lot of work to do.Palermo praised the initiative of the Class of 2016 Youth Football Organization, which has donated $900 left over from their all-night party. It's the largest lump sum amount of money so far donated to the project.The listed asking price for the building is $229,000, but the project board is confident that the price is negotiable, considering the building has been neglected and the roof has a leak. The realty company paid $1,900 for the building at a sheriff's sale and has $29,000 invested.Palermo said the realtor mentioned maybe they'd take $150,000.Palermo and Mayor Tom Connors thought the building might not be worth that much.They said they were not allowed to go into the annex side of the building due to the bad condition of it.Miscavige, who has been helping the project on a pro bono basis, praised the earnest effort of all the members of the board to move forward and form the nonprofit entity.When the building is purchased, Connors said it will be handed to the borough. The borough will use the resources to restore the building and give it back to the community."My personal feeling is that if we are able to purchase that building, the annex is definitely coming off because there is no saving that gym, and it is a liability," Connors said.PledgesPledge forms have been distributed, but the donations won't be collected just yet.Connors said, "I can tell you we have pledges for $50, and we have one gentleman, a good friend, who pledged $5,000."Pledges will be tallied, and that number will be presented to the bank.Connors said, "If you get a call saying we would appreciate your pledge, you're guaranteeing that the town is going to get that building back. That's a positive thing. You hold on to your money until then."Pledges won't be collected for a few months."Don't go out and say 'I'm going to pledge $100,000 because I'm going to play the lottery every Friday,' " Connors said."Give what you can give, but keep in mind that we have a small time frame and we need to act now before someone else beats us to it."Connors said, "We can make this happen if we all work together. That school is our town. That school is us. It's on our police badges, it's on every emblem that says Weatherly, so that school is us. We really have an excellent opportunity to get that building, and I hope you work as hard as I'm willing to work to make it happen!"Connors said the school won't be available overnight once acquired, because the borough has some other projects that need to take place and are in the works such as a police station, magistrate building, and new borough building that need to be built before the school doors could open.He said the restoration will be funded by grants and volunteers and resources available perhaps through historical registries, and will not require a tax increase.Membership applications for a public membership with the project's organization will afford members voting rights for any future decisions. Membership cost is $20. Future elections of the board will take place in an annual meeting in June.If you want to make a difference and help their efforts or buy T-shirts, please contact Charlie Palermo at 570-582-5028 or

cpalermo_51@yahoo.com. Visit the project's website at

http://charlesmschwabrestorationproject.org and Facebook group at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/charlesmschwabrestorationproject.org.