Oh dear! A large for-profit company is gearing up to sell a Monopoly board game in Newport, using local references for the various squares.
But such a game already exists – Newportopoly©, designed in 2014 by Peter Berton, the founding executive director of the Choir School of Newport County (CSNC) and manufactured by Late for the Sky Production Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its (very successful) sales go uniquely to support the Choir School which, in turn, gives both musical training and character education to Newport youngsters, 8 to 14. Bluntly put, without this significant income stream, the Choir School would not have been able to take the choristers on a life-changing educational trip in 2018 to sing in British cathedrals. A similar trip to South America in 2024 to partner with local student musicians would be put in grave jeopardy should sales be quashed by commercial competition from Hasbro and its ally Top Trumps. Late for the Sky also produced a Wal-Mart exclusive scaled-down version of the game which does not compete with the CSNC market.
The Tenth Anniversary edition of Newportopoly© is in production and arrives in Newport in early August, this summer. To see who’s on the board, and which local retailers will sell it, visit: www.choirschoolri.org/newportopoly.
Please, Hasbro and company, do reconsider!
Nicholas Brown
Chair, CSNC Board of Trustees
