By Susan Thompson | Lake Panorama Times
Friends of Lake Panorama will host its eighth Beach Ball fundraiser Friday, June 20, at Lake Panorama National. Friends is a nonprofit charity dedicated to improving recreational amenities at Lake Panorama. It is governed by a seven-member, volunteer board of directors.
The Friends board will meet in late March to finalize plans for the event with event registration beginning in mid-April. Funds will be raised with both live and silent auctions, plus other activities throughout the evening.
Items for the auctions are being accepted now. Anyone interested in donating auction items for the 2025 Beach Ball is asked to email staff@friendsoflakepanorama.org.
Projects chosen by the Friends board to promote at the Beach Ball will receive a percentage of pooled funds raised, plus all direct donations designated to a specific project.
The current priority for Friends is a fundraising campaign to pay for needed improvements on the Lake Panorama National golf course. Projects include tee box and driving range renovations and new tee signs and ball washers.
The 2024 Beach Ball had a profit of $35,000, with the Friends board allocating $30,000 of that to LPN golf course projects. Those funds, plus private donations and two other fundraising events, made it possible to renovate four forward tee boxes last fall. Additional work is planned for this coming fall.
At its November 2024 meeting, the Friends board decided a portion of the funds raised at the 2025 Beach Ball also will be committed to the LPN golf course renovation effort.
To help identify additional projects of interest throughout the Lake Panorama community that could receive 2025 Beach Ball funds, Friends is conducting a survey of the LPA membership this spring. When the survey launches, details will be available in the Panorama Prompt weekly newsletter and on the Friends of Lake Panorama Facebook page.
Information on all past and current projects is available on the Friends website. All donations are tax-deductible. Donors of $500 or more are recognized on signs erected near specific projects they designate and on the donor page of the Friends website.
Tax-deductible donations can be made at any time by check payable to Friends of Lake Panorama and mailed to Friends of Lake Panorama, P.O. Box 488, Panora, Iowa, 50216. Donations also can be made using VENMO @Panorama-Friends, or by credit card on the Friends website at friendsoflakepanorama.org.