On October 9, friends, family, and members of the Pelham community came together for a fundraiser in honor of Pelham Middle School’s earth science teacher Mr. Roksvold. The dinner was held at Lake Isle Country Club in celebration of his life. Mr. Roksvold suddenly passed away in the summer of 2019, leaving behind his wife and two children. He loved playing golf, so the fundraiser was originally planned as a golf outing, but unfortunately had to be cancelled due to COVID. After it was cancelled, it was decided the outing would be changed to a smaller memorial dinner. The dinner would have friends, family, and students sharing memories they experienced with Mr. Roksvold. 

The night started off with an opening speech by Coach Finegan, and was followed by Mrs. Roksvold who shared a very heartfelt speech about her late husband. After dinner, more speeches were shared by friends of Roksfold such as 8th grade earth science teacher Mr. Hembury, and current senior Eric Soderberg. All of the speeches shared were very heartwarming, emotional, and of course filled with a bit of laughter.

At the fundraiser there were chances to win gift baskets, sports game tickets, and much more. Another fun raffle included was a birthday board. If your date was picked for this raffle you won 500 dollars. The gift baskets were kindly donated by The Pelham Booster club, local restaurants, and Pelham families. All of the proceeds made at the dinner went to the Roksvold Children Education Fund. The scholarship fund was created by Pelham teachers association and the money that goes to it is used to help the Roksvold children with college related expenses. This event was the perfect way for the family and friends of Mr. Roksvold to celebrate and remember his life together. 

Eric Soderberg said, “ I thought it was a great way to celebrate the life of Mr. Roksvold. As both a former student and player for Roks, I felt that I had a responsibility to share some of the great stories I have of him.”