By Steven Scarpa
 Record-Journal staff
  MERIDEN — In keeping with the Bourdon family’s efforts to encourage good things after the tragic death of 14­ month-old Noah Bourdon, the first ma­jor fundraising effort for the foundation founded in his name will be a classic rock concert.
  Mike Showerda, a city employee who is a friend of the Bourdon family, of­fered up the services of his band “River­street,” a classic rock group, to perform at an event called “A Night for Noah.” All of the proceeds from the event will go to the foundation. “It really is in its early stages,” he said.
  On Aug. 11, Noah accidentally fell from a playscape at Baldwin’s Pond, struck his head and died from his in­juries.
  In an effort to memorialize their son and bring some good out of tragedy, Christian and Sarah Bourdon started a foundation called Noah’s Ark of Hope. The goal of the group is to raise the funds to pay for the construction of a new playscape at Hubbard Park, a proj­ect Christian had already been involved with in his capacity as city recreation di­rector.
  While further information about the specifics of the event will likely be avail­able later this week, it is scheduled for Nov. 18 at Mountainside Special Events Facility on High Hill Road in Walling­ford. Initially, the foundation was seek­ing a venue for only a couple of hundred people, but the initial response to their effort encouraged it to seek a larger hall. They hope to have

more than 400 peo­ple attend.
  “We are hoping to draw a big crowd. There is a big circle of friends that just extends out,” Showerda said. “There are already a lot of people who really want to be involved.”
  “I think it is going to be pretty big. It will be a good jumpstart to our fundrais­ing efforts in Connecticut,” Allyson Zenkert, a member of the foundation’s board of directors and Christian Bour­don’s sister.
  Those fundraising efforts have al­ready begun, Zenkert said. The founda­tion has collected $10,000 in private contributions, including $500 from New York Yankees owner George Steinbren­ner. In the days after Noah’s death, his grandfather Paul Bourdon wrote to the Yankees, enclosing a picture of Noah in a Yankees uniform. Steinbrenner called the foundation’s effort to raise money for the playscape “noble,” Zenkert said, and offered his assistance. “(Noah) used to watch baseball with his dad for hours,” Zenkert said of her nephew.
  The process of planning the play­ground, which had been briefly post­poned, will begin in earnest on Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the Griffin Room of the Meriden Public Library. Residents are encouraged to offer opinions and sug­gestions as to what the playscape should be like. “People are so into doing any­thing they can to raise money for this. It is wonderful that people want to do this,” Zenkert said.
  For more information about upcom­ing events and fundraisers, go online to w­ww. n­oahsarkofhope. c­om.
 sscarpa@record-journal.com (203) 317-2225