Board Game Lets Players Buy Up Williamstown
 |
| Williamstownopoly, with the landscape of Green River Farms on its cover, gives players a chance to purchase all of their favorite town hangouts. |
WILLIAMSTOWN – Go directly to the Williamstown Police Department. Do not pass Al's Auto Body Works. Do not collect $200.
Williamstownopoly, a hometown version of everyone’s favorite entrepreneurial board game, has arrived. Created by parents of Williamstown Elementary School pupils, nearly 700 games are on sale to benefit the sixth-grade field trip to Cape Cod in May.
According to the committee that designed the board and is running the fundraiser, Williamstownopoly has something for everyone, proudly displaying spaces for popular businesses like the Water Street Grille and Where'd You Get That?! as well as attractions like the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and Green River Farms.
"It's the millennium edition that really talks. It represents a snapshot of Williamstown and its fun," said Gail Bouknight-Davis, one of the parents who helped develop the game.
<L2>The board, complete with pictures of some of the Village Beautiful's most notable landmarks and prominently featuring Williams College's inescapable purple cow, is a gift and keepsake for town residents, college alumni and even the children who are poised to benefit from its creation.
"This is a fundraiser really out of the norm and it's something that everyone can be proud of," said Pamela Shea, another one of the committee's parents.
Though a similar town-themed board game was created nearly 20 years ago, Bouknight-Davis said the Pittsfield-based version, Pittsfieldopoly, inspired the five-member committee to bring what they call "a one-of-a-kind treasure" to residents.
"This was just a wonderful idea," said Shea.
And for businesses, the venture was win-win, said Bouknight-Davis.
"I'm always skeptical when people talk about win-win, but this really is. Businesses get a permanent ad that is seen every time someone plays the game. And there's a 100 percent profit for the school," she said. "Instead of donating, there were gaining."
"It's risk-free," added Shea.
<R3>Of the $15,000 the committee raised through mostly ad revenue, $13,000 went toward the creation of the board and its accessories – play money, houses and hotels, game pieces, cards. Through the sale of Williamstownopoly, at $25 a box, the committee hopes to top $15,000, all of which will be set aside for the spring trip.
"Originally, we did this to significantly decrease the amount of funds that parents have to contribute for the trip. But then we put so much time and work into it and it's become something else," said Shea. "The businesses have all loved it and everyone's embraced it."
Shea said she plans on selling the games at Williams' Paresky Student Center on April 27 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. To get your own game, call the elementary school at 458-5707 and ask to leave a message for Carolyn Jones or Bouknight-Davis.
