An anonymous donor has gifted the Town of Sweden with 1,130 shares of Exxon Mobil stock valued at close to $100,000.

The donation is not part of an estate settlement, according to Supervisor Buddy Lester, but from an individual who has been impressed with the town’s new park master plan and would like to help provide an indoor recreational facility for Sweden youth. A condition of the donation is that the funds generated from the sale of the stock be used solely for the purpose of constructing or purchasing an indoor recreation center.

Sweden plans to sell the stock within the next few weeks and deposit the proceeds into a recreation center reserve account until such time as it is prepared to pursue a building project.

"We’re fortunate to be on the receiving end of this gift," Lester said. "This is the building block for providing our youth with a place to play sports. The school district just can’t accommodate the needs of all our youth." Lester added that he hoped the donation might inspire other corporate or individual sponsors to help finance indoor and outdoor recreational facilities.

Earlier this year, the Town of Sweden decided to bond up to one million dollars for development of the new 150-plus acre park on Redman Road. Although the first several phases of the project would provide more soccer and baseball fields, a skate park, trails and other outdoor recreational opportunities, indoor sports do not benefit from the plan. The town has considered restoring the abandoned Quonset hut at the park, but the cost – over a million dollars – is prohibitive at this point. Sweden is also pursuing several grants to help fund the park development.

"Lots of people have fond memories of recreation programs they participated in as kids," Lester said. "This person wanted to help more youth in this community have those opportunities."