Designed by kids, built by volunteers:
State Farm/State Farm Bayou Classic and KaBOOM!
team up to build new playground in just one day for New Orleans children at
Abramson Science & Technology Charter School

NEW ORLEANS – More than 200 volunteers from State Farm/State Farm Bayou Classic, organizers from KaBOOM! and residents of the New Orleans community will join forces on Friday, Nov. 28 to build a new, safe playground at the Abramson Science & Technology Charter School. The new playground’s design is based on drawings provided by children who attended a Design Day event in September.   

The new playground will provide more than 400 children who attend the Abramson Science & Technology Charter School with a safe place to play. Currently, the children do not have a playground at the school to play on. The playspace is the third built by KaBOOM! and State Farm in conjunction with the State Farm Bayou Classic, and one of more than 215 KaBOOM! will lead across the country in 2008 in an effort to provide a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. The build is also part of Operation Playground – the KaBOOM! initiative to build playgrounds in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

By Daveen Rae Kurutz
Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sept. 25, 2008

A park once covered with graffiti will get a new life.

The Ross Department of Parks and Recreation is looking for volunteers to take part in a "community build" at Maple Park next month to construct a play area. Located on the outskirts of the township just north of Bellevue, Maple Park has been renovated and rebuilt in recent years.

"It was in pretty bad shape with a lot of graffiti and garbage," said Pete Geis, director of Parks and Recreation. "Dave (Mikec) got a cleanup crew of about 20 local residents together and they cleaned up the park. They were really interested in what happened to it."

...

The township received a $10,000 grant from the private nonprofit group KaBOOM, which is offered specifically for community playspaces and requires a volunteer aspect to the community build, Geis said. [More]

Check it out...this is from a KaBOOM! build Aug. 16 in Philadelphia.

Park at old Memorial Stadium grounds had been haven for hundreds of children
By Justin Fenton
Baltimore Sun
Sept. 10, 2008

Fire destroyed the sprawling playground that thousands of volunteers built three years ago at the site of the old Memorial Stadium on 33rd Street, a blaze that community leaders called "devastating" as they vowed to rebuild.

...

The 14,000-square-foot playground was built in 2005 next to the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Family Center at Stadium Place, providing a safe gathering spot for hundreds of children in the heart of the community. With senior homes built nearby, the playground was key part of the area's redevelopment and a place where residents young and old converged.

Money for the $350,000 project was raised through fish fries and spaghetti dinners and by local schoolchildren, and an army of volunteers from across the region chipped in to build the structure. [More]

Discuss this article in the Forums.

By Harry Minium
The Virginian-Pilot
Aug. 22, 2008

They came by the hundreds from across Hampton Roads to deliver a message to the criminals who for too long have ruled the streets of Denby Park: This will again be a safe place for kids to play.

More than 400 volunteers spent less than six hours Thursday building a playground, the first in this troubled Wards Corner neighborhood.

The new play area, once a vacant lot next to an apartment complex, is now replete with slides, a tire swing, rock climbing areas and benches.

"Shots have been fired at the houses across the street," said Bud Blanchard, 85, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1949. "People were crouched down in the houses to avoid the shooting."

Blanchard said he pleaded with city officials to rid the neighborhood of drugs before building the playground. He said they told him that the playground, combined with increased policing, will help drive crime away. [More]

By Amy Lea
The Camden (Maine) Herald Reporter
Aug. 15, 2008

First-graders at Rockport Elementary School took fundraising for a new playground into their own hands when they combined their efforts to create and raffle a quilt.

Each student in Kim Wickenden’s class made their own unique fabric square this spring. And with assistance from parent volunteer Carrie Hedstrom, the quilt was pieced together, with each student's name sewn on the finished product.

“We wanted to do something as a class where all the children felt like they contributed to the playground and produce something that would also raise money,” Wickenden said.

A total of $801.95 was raised in raffle ticket sales, to fund the new playground at the West Rockport Campus. [More]

Learn more great fundraising ideas!

By Keith Ferguson
Sharon (Mass.) Advocate
Aug 07, 2008
 
SHARON - Thanks to the efforts of about 100 volunteers last weekend, children will be playing on the new Heights Community Playground as early as tomorrow, according to Project Manager Karen Wald.

About 60 community members worked seven hours on Friday and 40 or so labored all day Saturday to install the new playground equipment, which includes giant slides, a rock wall and a PlayWeb, said Wald. All that’s left, she added, is to lay down mulch and install a walking track and a shade structure.

“I can’t wait until it’s over,” Wald said, laughing.

The playground has been two years in the making. [More]

Learn how to build a playground with our Roadmap!

A recent KaBOOM! build at the Marsha Barbour Community Center in Pass Christian, Miss. featured a unique side project - a brightly-colored, kid-sized maze!

The kids and adults came up with the idea during their Design Day, and Justin Fitzgerald, KaBOOM! Project Manager, took on the task of creating the plans and figuring out the logistics to create it.

The maze, which measures 25 feet by 30 feet, was made of 4x4 pieces of lumber and 4-foot tall sheets of plywood. On the outside of the maze, kids painted beach-themed murals, and on the inside of the maze, they painted bright, solid colors.

On Prep Day, volunteers dug holes for the 4x4 posts, primed the plywood sheets and sketched the kid-designed murals onto them. On Build Day, they assembled the maze and as soon as each plywood sheet was attached, the kids began to paint it.

"People loved it," said Justin. "It turned out well."

Check out more photos of the maze, and other side project ideas - we hope to post the maze plans soon!

By Alan Schnepf
San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE
Aug. 2, 2008

LAKESIDE – There's more than strength in numbers. There's also speed.

About 250 people in Lakeside proved that Thursday when they built the city's newest playground in less than a day.

The group showed up at Lindo Park Elementary School on Thursday morning to build the 3,400-square-foot playground and finished it the same afternoon.

Among the volunteers was Damon Johnson, a produce clerk at an Albertsons in Vista. Johnson had the day off and decided to help. He brought along his wife and son, who will soon be leaving for college.

“It's about going out and doing something physical,” Johnson said. “I can go out and donate money, but this? I'm a part of it, a part of the blood, sweat and tears.” [Read more] [Photo slideshow]

Learn how you can build a playground in a day with our Roadmap!

By Kyle Wind
Kingston Daily Freeman
August 1, 2008

KINGSTON - After one year of planning, it only took just one day to build a playground at Metropolitan Park on the corner of Greenkill and South Clinton avenues.

Volunteers numbering 252 began constructing the playground at 8 a.m. Thursday, and by 4 p.m., a ribbon-cutting ceremony opened the colorful play area designed for children ages 2 through 12. The site features slides, climbing apparatus, monkey bars, swings, a preschool area and an accessible climber for children with disabilities.

The playground also includes benches, picnic tables, shade structures and horseshoe pits, as well as volleyball and basketball courts. [More]

Learn how to build benches, picnic tables, shade structures and more!

By Kim Lawrence
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
July 31, 2008

A gift from a soon-to-be second-grader and the complaints of a group of parents have prompted Moon Area School District to send a maintenance crew to J.A. Allard Elementary School to draw up a "to-do" list of repairs. In addition, the superintendent has e-mailed parents to schedule a meeting to address more long-term concerns.

Leah Baker, a pupil at Allard, turned 7 years old June 21. She chose to celebrate her birthday by giving rather than receiving.

The youngster donated $200 of her birthday money to the school district to fix her favorite slide in the school playground. [More]

Learn lots of great fundraising ideas in our Fundraising Ideas wiki!

By Andrew Edwards
San Bernadino County Sun
July 30, 2008

SAN BERNARDINO - About 350 volunteers and a heck of a lot of concrete and wood shavings came together Wednesday, and the result was a brand-new playground on the city's Westside.

Kids who venture into the caterpillar-esque tube can climb right out of the thing, head to the slide and make their way down to a soft landing on the wood shavings strewn about the new playground.

But not just yet. [More]

Where can you find equipment for your playground project? Search our Vendor Directory.

A Play Day is one day when the community gets together to celebrate and recognize the importance of play — unstructured, self-motivated play — for kids of all ages. Organizing a Play Day is a good way to draw attention to the importance of play in the lives of all children in your community as well as create momentum for long-term commitments to building and caring for playspaces. A Play Day can be a simple (and, of course, fun) affair that lasts a few hours, or it can be a full day of activities, games, prizes, free play, and community building! A Play Day can be big or small, including a neighborhood or a whole city. It’s time to celebrate and have fun. And, don’t forget, this is your opportunity to network!

Get lots of resources and tips on our new Play Day planning resources page!

We've added some fun new photos to our photo gallery! Check them out!

Atlanta, GA - Whiteford Elementary School (Chrysler), 7/10/08
Indianapolis, IN - Save the Youth (The Home Depot), 7/10/08
WE Play! New Orleans - 7/25/08

By JON-MARC LARSON
Mississippi Press
July 26, 2008

GAUTIER -- More than 100 volunteers from the community gathered Friday to help assemble a playground next to the Boys and Girls Club.

Led by nonprofit organization KaBOOM!, volunteers worked from 8:30 until 2:30 p.m. erecting brightly colored pieces of equipment, pouring concrete and laying sod to give Gautier a safer, more entertaining spot for local children.

"We did not have anything like this when I was a kid, so it is great that our children here in Gautier will have something like this here," Gautier Mayor Pete Pope said. "We are especially thankful to all of the organizers and volunteers who helped make this day possible for the city of Gautier." [More]

Learn more about KaBOOM! efforts in the Gulf Coast.

By MEGHAN DURBAK
Kokomo Tribune
July 23, 2008

When Jeremy Jones arrived at the Maple Lawn Trailer Court in Miami County, he noted the pathetic state of the playground.

The dirt and empty frames acted as testimony to the diminishing quality of life in the neighborhood over the years.

There was a swing set with no swings, except the infant carrier loosely attached to the metal frame by a rope. The rest had disappeared long ago.

Jones realized the neighborhood had nearly 100 young children, and nowhere for them to play.

That’s why Jones, the youth pastor for First Baptist Church of Galveston, and the youth group DV8, decided to sponsor a mission trip to the trailer court. [More]

Learn how to revitalize a playground near you with side projects!

By MATT HOLLIS
North Channel Sentinel (Texas)
July 17, 2008

The heat was intense, but that did not stop more than 250 volunteers from participating in the Wendel D. Ley YMCA/KaBoom! playground project, July 12.

“This says a lot for the community in Channelview,” said Ann Gaudard, KaBoom! Project manager. “T he North Shore community has never been one not to share its time, talents and treasures. Today, they shared all of those with us. It really will make a difference in these kids’ lives.”

KOOL-AID helped to fund the playground along with a $10,000 donation from the North Shore Rotary Club. [More]

Learn more about the KOOL-AID and KaBOOM! partnership.

Students get new place to play
Omaha World-Herald
July 17, 2008
More than 200 volunteers gathered at Jackson Elementary School, 31st and Jackson Streets, early this morning to help build a playground that will provide students a new and secure place to play. [More - including video]

Jackson Elementary Gets New Playground
KETV
July 17, 2008
Hundreds of volunteers turned out Thursday to make a fun place for some midtown Omaha children.

The Omaha Schools Foundation, the Kaboom Organization and employees of the Performance and Baxter Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge dealership teamed up to build a playground at Jackson Elementary School. [More]

Learn more about the KaBOOM! community-build model.

Team effort creates play area at Pontiff; Community group gets corporate aid
By Earl Hodges
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
July 10, 2008

Sweat and a giant smile covered Lori Tucker's face as she looked at the other volunteers enthusiastically working around her.

"This is all about the kids," Tucker said. "It's important for children to have a safe place to play and stay active."

Tucker, a pre-kindergarten teacher at St. Rita School in Harahan, was one of more than 250 volunteers who converged on Wally Pontiff Jr. Playground in Old Metairie on June 28 to construct a 3,500-square-foot play area, located between the track and tennis courts.

The project was a joint effort of Friends of Pontiff, Pontiff Boosters, CNN's "Fit Nation," Cox Communications and KaBOOM, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that helps build play areas for children. [More]

Volunteer for an upcoming KaBOOM! playground build in the Gulf Coast.

New playground built where 3-year-old TaJanay Bailey was killed
By Laura Misjak
Indianapolis Star
July 11, 2008

The smell of barbecue, sound of gospel music and bright colors of playground equipment filled the scene at the Phoenix Apartments on the city's Northeastside on Thursday.

It wasn't just a picnic, though.

Hundreds of volunteers gathered to construct a $57,000 playground in hopes that picnic tables, monkey bars and a spiral slide will help create a safer environment for the subsidized complex's 190 children.

"Beforehand, you didn't see many kids out here playing, but I think that's something that's going to change," said Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, who stopped at the work site Thursday morning.

"Out of a terrible tragedy, you can see how people come together in this community." [More]

Learn how to build a community-built playground with our Toolkit!

By DANI SCHWEIGERT
Lake County (Ill.) Journals

ROUND LAKE – Get ready, Round Lake Area. A new place to play is coming your way.

Discover Financial Services and KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit organization that helps communities build playgrounds, have teamed up with the Round Lake Area Park District to build a playground and skate park at the park district’s Community Center.

“It’s going to add to the function, operation and amenities of the park district and the community center,” said Jeff Nehila, executive director of the park district. [More]

Want to build a playground in your neighborhood? We've got all the tools you need!

Partnership with KaBOOM!, WaMu bringing new play area to child development center on Compton Boulevard
By Allison Jean Eaton
Compton (Calif.) Bulletin
June 25, 2008

COMPTON – From your typical slide and swing set to more imaginative requests like a tree house, tunnel and “choo-choo train,” toddlers and pre-school age children who spend their days at the child development center at the YWCA offered up requests for their up-and-coming new playground.

Nonprofit KaBOOM! and Washington Mutual (WaMu) have teamed to make the new playground a reality. The two organizations hosted a design day Tuesday, June 17 at the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles’ Compton Boulevard location. [More]

Learn how to plan a Design Day

CNN and KaBOOM! are teaming up to build a playground in New Orleans this Saturday. Here's how you can be a part of the action!

• See photos from the Design Day
• See photos from the Build Day (coming June 30)
• Discuss this playground build in the Forums
• Watch CNN.com/health for their coverage of the day.

If you're planning on building a playspace, you can't go wrong with the KaBOOM! Project Planner. It's a great way to track volunteers and funding for your project, and it puts your project in our searchable database so funders and volunteers can find you!

Based on registered projects, here's who's been building (and is planning to build) in the month of June. Send happy thoughts their way! (Click the "Read more" button for the list!)

WPBT (PBS)

When we launched our web portal, uVu, last year, we expected the project to become a source for stories by and about the community, but always with the hope that we could connect with people in a physical space as well. Late last week we had another opportunity to do that and you can watch the video here.

In Plantation, there was a small park on Fig Tree Lane, damaged by Hurricane Wilma, that had fallen almost completely into disrepair. But thanks to some impressive partners and a lot of community "sweat equity" a new park was erected on the site. Despite the threat of rain and an early morning string of thunderstorms, volunteers turned out (and returned) to put this park together in a single day. A partnership between KaBOOM, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to building parks across the country, the Massey-Yardley Dealership, the City of Plantation officials and dozens of Plantation neighbors helped raise the new playground. [More]

Learn more about KaBOOM! Funding Partners.
 

Parents, clubs, businesses provide money for school facility in poor neighborhood
By Cathy Spaulding
Muskogee (Okla.) Daily Phoenix
June 21, 2008

Sixth-grader Kayla Royse said she didn’t have a decent playground set for all the years she spent at Irving Elementary School.

“I just walk around and be bored during recess,” she said. “I didn’t think I could ever get to see a playground set that was fun.”

When Kayla and other Irving students come back to school this August, they’ll have a new set — yellow and Rougher green, complete with humpy slides, towers and spiral ladders.

Irving school administrators and Parent Teacher Organization members said hard work and good fortune helped them raise the thousands of dollars to buy and put up the playground set.

Irving, however, faced an extra challenge because of its high poverty rate, Irving principal Dr. Pam Bradley said. In 2007, 87 percent of Irving students were on free or reduced lunch. Tony Goetz Elementary, where Bradley used to be principal, had a 60 percent of its students on free or reduced lunch. The district average was 75 percent on free and reduced lunch; the state average, 56 percent. [More]

Check out the KaBOOM! one-stop fundraising shop for all kinds of fundraising resources!

By Nick Hytrek, Sioux City (Iowa) Journal
June 23, 2008

HUBBARD, Neb. -- When they began raising money to replace old playground equipment in their town's park, members of the newly formed Hubbard Betterment Committee had a simple goal: Out with the old, in with the new.

It seemed like a straightforward task. Raise enough money to get new, safe equipment to replace old metal swings, a merry-go-round that had rusty bolts sticking up out of it and a slide that long ago had stopped meeting modern safety standards.

But in the months that followed since they began meeting in late 2006, committee members noticed something else happening. They weren't just updating an old playground, they were replacing old attitudes.

Hubbard residents, both old and new, were opening up more than their checkbooks. They were opening their eyes to the possibilities for their town. They were asking how they, too, could help. They were thinking of other ways to improve their community of 234 people. [More]

Learn how to organize your community to build a playground

A photo from the ribbon-cutting at the 100th Operation Playground build appeared on a huge electronic billboard in Times Square in New York City between 10 and 11 a.m. Eastern time on June 16! Here's what it looked like:

The 100th build from Operation Playground was featured on "Good Morning America" today!

Watch the segment here.

Learn more about Operation Playground.

Check out photos from the build!

More than 500 volunteers converged on Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park in Bay St. Louis on Saturday to help KaBOOM! and our partners complete the 100th Operation Playground project in the Gulf Coast. In December 2005, KaBOOM! committed to build 100 playgrounds in the region after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, starting with the first in Bay St. Louis. It was only fitting that the 100th playground was built in the town where it all began. 

The 100th build was a true community celebration. Not even a midday shower could dampen the enthusiasm of the volunteers from the local community, Fannie Mae, AmeriCorps*NCCC, Gulf Coast Recovery Corps, Keesler Air Force base, and others, many of whom had participated in several previous Operation Playground projects. In just under six hours, the volunteers completed two playground structures, refurbished two basketball courts, and built an extensive new ‘front porch’ entrance to the park. They also painted several murals commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, the community and Operation Playground. As a finishing touch, local children created a ‘Heroes Walk’ around the park honoring the men and women of the Civil Rights movement. 

The project was made possible by a partnership between KaBOOM!, the Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Fannie Mae, Foundation for the Mid South, the City of Bay St. Louis, Hancock Housing Resource Center and Powerhouse of Deliverance Church. At 2:30, representatives from each of the organizations, along with the volunteers and past Operation Playground Community Partners, gathered to cut a very special ribbon made up of 100 painted panels representing each of the 100 Operation Playground projects.    

Because of Operation Playground, more than 22,000 volunteers have donated their time to build playgrounds for nearly 50,000 children from Houston to Mobile.  In all, through Operation Playground, $8.2 million has been invested to build great new places to play in the Gulf Coast by Jim and Donna Barksdale, The Home Depot, Playworld Systems, Fannie Mae, Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, NBA Cares, DJR Foundation, AmeriCares, ESPN, ING Direct and other outstanding partners. 

KaBOOM! will continue to build in the region and already has several projects scheduled through December. The 101st and 102nd Operation Playground projects will take place in New Orleans and Biloxi on Saturday, June 28. Volunteer for one of these projects.

Comment on this story

WHP CBS 21, Harrisburg, Pa.

Hundreds of people joined forces Thursday in Steelton to build a new playground in just one day. It was part of a project put together by the Steelton-Highspire School District, Home Depot and KaBOOM!. Watch the video!

Learn more about community partner builds.

Kristin Thebaud
Ventura County Star
June 10, 2008

OXNARD, Calif.- Volunteers mixed more than nine and a half tons of concrete by hand and assembled more than 4,675 pounds of equipment to build a playground in one day at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme's Martin V. Smith Branch on 5th Street in Oxnard on Saturday. Volunteers from the Amgen Foundation and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme, organizers from KaBOOM! and residents of the Oxnard community joined forces to build a new, safe playground based on drawings provided by children who attended a Design Day event in April.

"Every child deserves a safe place to play," said Nancy Mayerson, board president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme. "We are grateful to KaBOOM! and the Amgen Foundation for recognizing the importance of this new playground for thousands of Oxnard children."

The new playground will provide more than 3,000 children in the community with a safe place to play each year. The play space is the first of two that will be built by KaBOOM! and the Amgen Foundation this year, and one of more than 225 KaBOOM! will lead across the country in 2008 in an effort to provide a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. [More]

How can you build a playground your community? Get started here.

Make your playspace dreams come true with the help of our webinars! From ideas for promoting play in your community to fundraising to working with the media, we've got you covered.

We've just announced some great new (free!) webinars. All you need is a phone and an Internet connection to participate!

Webinar topics for this summer include:

• Revitalizing Playspaces, Becoming Part of the Urban Parks Movement
• FUNdraising 101
• Becoming a KaBOOM! Community Partner
• Making the Ask: Getting Business Sponsorships
• EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About It! Working with the Media during Your Playground Project
• Grant Writing 101

Register today!

Check out the KOOL-AID photo gallery to see great photos from four playspace builds in the Los Angeles area last week!

LA Teen Challenge
Boys & Girls Club of Carson
HCA/Longhorn Pavillion
Los Cerritos YMCA

Learn more about the partnership

It's been a difficult year for Jacob Asher.

The 4-year-old was critically injured last April in a two-car accident that killed his mother and two brothers.

He broke his jaw in two places, broke his legs and fractured his neck.

But Jacob fought through his physical injuries, and a Waukee-based organization has built Jacob a new play space in the backyard of his Earlham house so he can get outside and play again.

Project Dream Space unveiled the 3,000-square-foot play area to Jacob and his father Eric on Sunday afternoon.

The play area features a sandbox, a two-story clubhouse and a memorial garden dedicated to his mother and brothers.

Jacob went straight for the sandbox, his father said.

"He was really excited, he really was -- he was really surprised," Eric Asher said. [More]

Learn how to organize volunteers to build a playground near you

Last Saturday, in 95˚ heat, KaBOOM! had its 99th build in the Gulf Coast -- and a Build Day wedding! -- at Life Academy, a preschool program of the Resurrection of Life Church in Picayune, Miss.

Volunteers kept busy assembling the play structure, rock blocks, slither slide, adventure bridge, and Freddy Firetruck, plus shade structures, butcher block benches and picnic tables...until 10 a.m., when everyone was told to put down their tools because it was time to go to the wedding being held on the build site!

The ceremony took place about 50 yards from the playground. The bride and groom, Chris Utter and Roxie Zortman, were joined by friends, family, and all 130 build volunteers, the vast majority of whom were members of the church. When the attendees realized there wasn’t music, they all hummed ‘Here Comes the Bride’ as the bride walked down the makeshift aisle. 

Despite the unusual circumstances, Brother Allen performed a very moving and deeply spiritual ceremony. The bride and groom both shed tears of joy before finally sharing their first kiss as husband and wife. Immediately after the wedding, it was time to get back to work. The groom quickly changed and hit the mulch pile, while his bride regretfully left to spend time with family in for the weekend.

It was quite a day! And this coming Saturday, we'll be celebrating the 100th KaBOOM! Operation Playground build in the Gulf Coast. Learn more.

On May 24th, 2008 more than 400 people joined together as a community to build a safe, innovative and beautiful park for children in San Pancho, Mexico. This project, known as RECICLA PARQUE (Recycled Park), relied on KaBOOM! tools, such as the online Toolkit, while creating an innovative, green playspace.

One of the principles of the RECICLA PARQUE project was to use recycled materials in the construction of the park and to teach sustainable building techniques. Groups of volunteers built walls from glass bottles, walls that used plastic bottles filled with sand as “bricks,” and benches from sacks filled with dirt and covered with a mixture of concrete and paper, a technique known as “papercrete” and experimental in the San Pancho climate. They sanded and painted old CFE spools to use as tables, refurbished found iron works to use as doors on the kids' area, and cut tires to use for swingsets and other play equipment.

Build Day was an amazing example of a community in action. Parents, teachers, kids, business owners, passers-by, San Pancho residents and groups and organizations from Bucerias, Sayulita, Guadalajara, Punta de Mita, Colorado and California joined together to create a park for the children of San Pancho in an action of solidarity and goodwill that left the organizers "thankful, inspired and awed." [More]
 
Check out the KaBOOM! Toolkit.

Check out these videos from the Home Depot/KaBOOM! build in Milwaukee June 5.

CBS 58

My Fox Milwaukee

Vikings pitch in on playground
Players, staff do a day's work at north Minneapolis school

By Sean Jensen
St. Paul Pioneer Press
June 5, 2008

Eric Mahmoud figured he was being Punk'd.

The co-founder of Seed Academy / Harvest Prep School in north Minneapolis, Mahmoud received a call from Brad Madson a few months ago.

The Vikings' executive director of community relations informed Mahmoud that his charter school had been selected to receive a new playground, courtesy of the club, KaBOOM! and Toro.

"We had an old, unsafe playground, and we've been trying to raise money for it," said Mahmoud, who founded Seed Academy as a 10-child day care with his wife, Ella, in 1985. "Then I got a call out of the blue from Brad Madson.

"I thought it was a joke."

That wasn't all. The three companies sought the students' input, and they combined forces to build the playground in a single day.

"It's a dream come true," Mahmoud said. "It's not just writing a check. This is phenomenal." [More]

Learn more about KaBOOM! partnerships with professional sports teams.

Building a playground in a day in Fountain Heights
By ANNE RUISI
Birmingham (Ala.) News
June 04, 2008

More than 200 volunteers are expected Saturday to build a dream playground in one day in Fountain Heights.

"It gone from being a wish, to a dream to a reality," said Doris Powell, president of the Fountain Heights Neighborhood.

Construction will start at 8:30 a.m. and be completed by the 2:30 p.m. ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony. Volunteers are welcome to join the effort Saturday morning.

The long-awaited, 2,500-square-foot KaBOOM! playground will be built at the Fountain Heights Recreation Center, 1101 15th Ave. North. Its design is based on drawings provided by children who attended a design day event in April.

Swings, slides and a rock climbing panel are some of the features that will be in the new playground.

The project is a joint effort of OPUS Corp., which built the new Social Security Administration building in the neighborhood, KaBoom!, and the Fountain Heights Community Development Corp. [More]

Learn how to build a playground from start to finish with the KaBOOM! Online Toolkit!

Playground will be built in single day
Boys & Girls Clubs do own version of 'Extreme Makeover: Home'

By Joanne Cunha
Ventura County (Calif.) Star
June 4, 2008

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme will hold a version of the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" TV show by building a new playground in one day — Saturday — at Southwest Park in Oxnard.

The Amgen Foundation has provided a $62,500 grant for the project, with $7,500 provided by the Boys & Girls Clubs.

"It's really a dream come true," said Tim Blaylock, spokesman for the clubs. "We don't have a playground with play structures. Twenty kids actually helped design the project with KaBOOM.

"They've been doing this model for a long time. It's based on trying to get a community to rally around a project and people taking pride in it." [More]

Learn more about KaBOOM! Community Partner Builds

Playground stands in honor of Connor Simonson
By Shino Omura
Lancaster (Pa.) Eagle Gazette
May 20, 2008

BALTIMORE - For years, Kathy Simonson watched her son Connor Simonson kick a soccer ball, hit a baseball and laugh with his friends at Alt Park in Baltimore.

At age 10, Connor passed away in November 2006 after being diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.

The disease is a type of blood cancer and is the most common type of leukemia in children under the age of 15, according to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The memories of Connor will now serve as a foundation for the rest of the community to make new memories of their own.

With his family's consent and support, a playground was built in memory of Connor inside Alt Park.

The public will be able to see and enjoy the playground equipment following the dedication ceremony for Connor Simonson Memorial Playground on Sunday.

Read the full article

A local woman is focusing her energy on something positive in the wake of her father’s unexpected death last month.

While Mandee Brown is mourning the loss of her father, Jimmy Gudroe, who was Dexter’s fire chief, she also is working to refurbish a community playground in his memory.

"My dad loved kids. He never missed a fire prevention week," Brown said Thursday. So it seemed only fitting to Brown that she enlist some help and work to raise money to replace the Dexter Community Playground equipment on Crosby Street with a firetruck and other assorted playground equipment. Her goal would be to have the playground renamed the Jimmy Gudroe Memorial Playground.

Brown met with the Dexter Town Council earlier this month to announce the project.

Gudroe had previously served with the Garland Fire Department for five years before he joined the Dexter Fire Department, where he served for 16 years, the latter two as chief.

School gets first playground
By Ken Sugiura
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
May 10, 2008
 
Where once an empty lot largely went unused, a playground sprang to life Friday. Here, the frame of a swing set, lying on its side. There, a curlicue slide, one piece of an apparatus that included more slides, a ladder and a small climbing wall.

Second-grader Gabrielle Gould watched it all with approval.

"It's tight," she said.

More than 200 volunteers built a playground for Gabrielle and her Cleveland Avenue Elementary School schoolmates. Veteran teachers said it's the first at this 58-year-old Atlanta school, where 95 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-cost lunch.

"We're really, really looking forward to this," said Lillian Jackson, an instructional specialist who has taught at the school for 23 years. "It's wonderful for the children."

...

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Discuss your build experiences in the Forums!

Once shuttered city playground now getting upgrade

BY MIKE FAHER

Just one year ago, the gates of Johnstown’s controversial skateboard park were locked.

Now, the Fairfield Avenue facility’s future looks bright due to the efforts of a volunteer organization.

Members of the West End Improvement Group on Monday kicked off improvements designed to transform the park into a greener, more user-friendly space for kids and nearby residents.

And they noted that more cash is needed to make those plans a reality.

...

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Discuss playspace maintenance and renovation in our Forums

Check out the new "Community Involvement" section of the KaBOOM! online Toolkit, where you can learn how to find great resources in your community for volunteers, fundraising, tool donation, and more!

"Community Involvement" complements all the other Toolkit sections by guiding you through the Asset-Based Community Development process, which helps you and your planning team identify people, associations, institutions and businesses in your community that can help with your playground project.

Share your wisdom with others! If your team comes up with a great idea for an individual, association, business or institution that can help with your playspace project, you can add it to the "Community Involvement" lists of individuals, associations, businesses and institutions to seek out. Each of these sections of the Toolkit can be edited or added to by anyone!

Read the "Community Involvement" section of the online Toolkit.

Karen Lowell
Linscott Charter School Parent and PR Committee Chairperson

I started to write about the structures we built and the details of the day. But the soul of the day wasn’t in the building details; it was in the people. The scurrying masses flew to work as a jovial mob, moving tools, setting out the playground components, arranging food and water, and otherwise setting up the material proof that we were really going to build a playground by 2:30 p.m.  

All day long people I knew and people I didn’t know were slapping high fives and hugging me in giddy delight. Mothers embarrassed children as they salsa-danced their way from work site to work site. People stopped me to tell me they had goose bumps.  There was JOY in the air, and proud amazement that we were really going to pull it off.  

The best moment was at the very end when all but the KaBOOM! team and a handful of us from Linscott were left. A woman from the neighborhood walked by and asked, “What happened here today!?” She said a young man had walked past her house as he left the build site, and simply stepped into her yard to help her garden. “That NEVER happens in this neighborhood.”

Well, after our magical day it just may. We mixed concrete to hold up our playground; we mixed friendship, joy and pride to cement the bonds that hold us together as a community. Long after the children who play on this playground are grown, we will all remember the spirit of joy with which it was built. I feel immensely privileged to have been part of it all.

Learn more about the Cesar Chavez Day of Service.

By Julio Salcedo
Site Director, Lytle Creek Park, San Bernadino, Calif.

Hello and a good day to everyone from Lytle Creek Community Center in the city of San Bernardino, Calif. It has been a pleasure and an honor to expose our youth to the KaBOOM! service learning curriculum focusing on the values of Cesar Chavez. Our center decided that pairing up our teens with our younger kids would make the experience much more interactive and fun for both age groups, and the experiment has worked!

In our first session, we asked the group what they thought service learning means. The children learned that service learning involves caring about the needs of the community and changing our behavior to better the places where we live.

The following sessions included:

• Public relations, where they developed Build Day invitations for VIPs and started thinking about thank-you cards for volunteers
• Playground safety, where children developed playground rules, talked about the importance of sharing the playground with others and discussed the consequences of not following the rules
• Cesar Chavez, where the whole session was dedicated to learning more about his life. Participants wrote short essays on the core values and read them to the rest of the group.
• History of our city, where the children learned about the city’s first female mayor, the first Latino mayor, the founding community of our city, the gold rush within our own city, and the many presidents and vice presidents who have visited.

We always knew, and it becomes more obvious by the day, that the KaBOOM! playground is more than a playground. It has sparked excitement, community pride and a desire to serve. Thank you, and we are anxiously waiting for our Build Day on Saturday, Mar. 29.

Learn more about Cesar Chavez Day

We did it in 2007

California First Lady Maria Shriver will be on hand for the kickoff playground build in Los Angeles on March 19.

On March 29, legions of volunteers with gather to build nine other playgrounds in the following cities:

Volunteer!
We need your help — and the help of at least 2,999 other people — to make this happen! If you want to give children a great place to play, visit CaliforniaVolunteers.org to find out how to get involved.

Can you imagine collaborating with friends and neighbors to build your community a new place to play? Can you imagine a new playspace materializing in just one day?  If so, a KaBOOM! playspace project may be the perfect opportunity for you!

Thanks to the generosity of our many corporate partners, KaBOOM! has ongoing opportunities for community organizations to build a new playground or skatepark.

We are currently doing outreach to locate potential community partners in cities and towns across North America to create playspaces with KaBOOM! and our corporate partners in 2008. Ideal community partners are usually child-serving nonprofit organizations, but can be community development organizations, neighborhood coalitions, schools or any organization that can mobilize a volunteer force and is in need of a new placespace!

Check out the list of 2008 playground opportunity cities!

MISSOULA, MT - It's the ultimate childhood bummer: a great playground barricaded by a 6-foot-high chain-link fence.

“We like to bring our kid to play here,” parent Lance Fairbank said of the Westside Park playground next to Lowell Elementary School. “If kids are breaking their arms, there's no sense in having it open. But it sure is a teaser.”

Broken arms are the risk at the play fort's walkways, according to school and city officials. At least one child did just that last month after falling on a particularly slick ramp. After Lowell Principal Cindy Christensen contacted Missoula Parks and Recreation for advice, park superintendent Rob Thames investigated.
What he found was that in October, a volunteer crew sprayed the play fort with a wood preservative as part of regular annual maintenance. Some of the overspray got on the walkways, which are made of a composite wood-and-plastic material. Because the spraying took place late in the fall, the preservative didn't cure the way it usually does, Thames said. And the walkways took on a sort of varnish that made them extremely slippery.

“The volunteer group that did the spraying did a good job,” Thames said. “I think it's more a weather thing. We didn't have this situation last year, or at other playgrounds.”

RAVENNA, OH - One year ago, elementary school students in Ravenna met with an architectural firm and designed their ultimate dream playground.

That dream, nurtured by the non-profit organization, Friends of the Park, will soon be a reality with plans to open the playground June 16.

Beginning June 9, the park will be constructed in a seven-day building bonanza with the assistance of an all-volunteer community effort.

"It's the only park of its kind in Portage County," said Amy Michael, Friends of the Park co-founder. "It will bring people here."

Included in the plans for the playground, from the imaginations of elementary school children, are a castle, a play beauty shop and a bridge separating the two. Also slated for construction are a rock-climbing wall, a rocket ship, a hot-air balloon and play telephones.

The park is currently referred to as "Portage County Community-Built Playground," but naming rights will be offered to the donor who gives the largest donation.

With a projected price tag of more than $200,000, Michael said the project is a complete volunteer effort.
"We'll need 2,000 hands," she said. "This takes us back to the value of teamwork."

PASCAGOULA, MS -- Before Holley Cunningham cut the ribbon dedicating the new wheelchair-accessible swing at the Jackson County School for Exceptional Children, she rededicated herself, with the help of others, to do even more.

For her 14th birthday in December 2006, Cunningham, 15, of Pascagoula, began spearheading a project where a new playground would be built for the school, a $200,000 endeavor.

"This is a first step, a beginning for the wonderful children here at the Exceptional School ... and shows that exceptional children can have exceptional play," Cunningham said.

Principal Geraldine Miskel called the swing "one of the greatest things" the school has ever received.

WHITESBORO, NY - The families who use the large wooden playground at Hart's Hill Elementary School might help decide the fate of the aging structure.

Leather & Associates, the Ithaca-based company that helped the community design and construct the Kid's Country playground in the early 1990s, has offered to help the Parent Teacher Organization repair or rebuild the structure.

But District Superintendent Arnold Kaye said he wants parents, teachers, the PTO and the community to weigh in on what should be done with the playground.

“I think this is going to work as a combination of district expertise and community involvement,” he said.

The structure remains open to the public, but students are not allowed to play on it during school hours because the splintered wood and missing features pose dangers, district and PTO officials have said.

WASILLA, AK -- A new playground going up in Talkeetna this summer will feature the usual playground fare -- swings and slides and monkey bars.

It will also feature items symbolic of the town itself: a grizzly bear tunnel, a bush plane, a climbing wall, even a Volkswagen bus.

"It's just part of Talkeetna's hippie culture, I guess -- a lot of granola crunchers around here," said playground project volunteer Karey Larson.

The children of those granola crunchers and their fellow Talkeetna townsfolk led the design of the playground, under the direction of John Dean, a designer with Leathers and Associates, a company out of Ithaca, N.Y., that specializes in community-built playgrounds.

MONTCLAIR, NJ - On the Spinal Tap scale of 1 to 10, Alma Schneider’s commitment to get a special playground built is “11.”

Schneider is the founder of Parents Who Rock, a wide-ranging organization inspiring Montclair dads and moms to excavate their closeted electric guitars and shoebox-entombed microphones and again take the stage.

She’s leading many PWR members to participate in fundraising efforts to construct a universal playground in Edgemont Memorial Park that will enable children and adults who have physical limitations to have fun alongside non-disabled kids and grownups.

As envisioned, the playground will cost approximately $350,000, of which $200,000 in public funding is available. Parents Who Rock is in the forefront of a Montclair-and-beyond effort to raise $150,000 in donations to get the outdoor facility built.

MACON, GA - I'm not sure every cloud has a silver lining. But those nasty nimbus clouds that dumped 20 inches of rain on us in July 1994 certainly did.

Of course, we had no way of realizing it at the time. A tropical storm named Alberto misbehaved on his jaunt through Georgia, unleashing the worst natural disaster in state history. Flooding from the storm killed 34 people and caused an estimated $1 billion in property damage.

History refers to it as the Great Flood of 1994, although there was absolutely nothing great about it - unless you're describing the magnitude of the mess left in its wake.

GREENSBURG, PA - Mike Olbeter said he believes an improved Coulter Playground in Greensburg will attract more children and discourage vandalism and other unwanted activity there.

"It's a good neighborhood, and a lot of kids are growing up there," Olbeter said.

A meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Jan. 26 at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art for residents who live near the playground. They will discuss what to do with a $10,000 KaBOOM grant that was awarded to make improvements at the playground in the city's 1st Ward, said organizer Steve Gifford, executive director of Greensburg Community Development Corp.

Gifford said the playground was discussed with neighbors during August meetings of My Neighborhood Program. That state program, known as the Elm Street Program, aims at enhancing areas near city downtown areas.

"One of the things they said they really wanted was improvements to the playground," Gifford said.

GLENPOOL, OK -- Glenpool Elementary School has created a comprehensive fitness trail on its playground.

"It's specialized equipment like you'd see in a health club, but it's purposely made for outdoors," said Diana Davis, a physical education and nutrition teacher at the school and organizer of the project.

The new quarter-mile paved path, called the Glenpool Warrior Walk 'N Talk Trail, winds around the school's playground and will offer nine fitness stations with machines such as the seated chest press, double sit-up board and a rowing machine.

The equipment is expected to be installed in two weeks, Davis said.

FARMINGTON, ME - A trust fund set up by the late Farmington attorney Peter Mills, to be used for improvements and repairs at the Hippach Athletic Field, will donate $4,500 toward a new playground at the park, it was announced Friday.

The donation from the Hippach Field Trust Fund brings the amount raised by Parents for the Playground to $28,735.

Another $4,300 is still needed to purchase and install the playground structure. If swings are included, the total needed rises to $6,300.

Spokeswoman Amy Graham said Friday she is optimistic that the remaining amount will be raised with the help of area businesses and individuals.

"We will definitely build something, probably in June, even if we have to scale back," she said.

TAKOMA, WA - Jennifer Flint-Nelson refused to let her dream of building a playground designed for her son and other children with special needs slip away.

A year ago, the Gig Harbor mother was one of 20 finalists in a national essay contest that would have given such a play area to her community. The competition started with almost 1,000 entries.

Flint-Nelson, 39, came close to winning the grand prize, placing in the top five. A girl from Claridge, Penn., ended up winning the playground for her school.

Parents who lack Flint-Nelson’s determination might have given up. Not her.

She wouldn’t quit as long as Ian – her 6-year-old son who has cerebral palsy and autism – didn’t have a play area that met his needs. He’s a kindergartner at Purdy Elementary.

“I couldn’t let it go,” she said. “I knew we had to make it happen.”

BULLARD — This town’s only park has undergone a gradual, major transformation into an attractive recreation area featuring colorful, modern and safe playground equipment, new picnic tables, resurfaced tennis courts, an improved pavilion and decorative fencing, with more improvements on tap.

The upgrade of O.L. Ferrell Park, carried out over the last couple of years, has slowly turned the park into a focal point of the town.

Read more about the project here . It's actually a great, rather in-depth story about how the project came together and how a few people were able to make it happen.

TAMPA, FL - The small park maintained by the Palmetto Point Civic Association isn't particularly large or famous, just a gathering spot for local kids.

But after a swing set collapsed Sunday afternoon and left a 2-year-old girl with severe brain damage, the Manatee County park has become the focus of new concerns about the safety of private playgrounds that are open to the public.

Unlike 17 other states, Florida does not require regular safety inspections of private playgrounds to make sure they meet standards set by national organizations.

That means hundreds of local playgrounds run by neighborhood associations, churches and even day cares are not required to have certified inspections proving they are safe for kids, said Scott Burton, a licensed playground safety expert and the president of the St. Petersburg company Safety Play.

LONGVIEW, TX - The bone-chilling mist in 42-degree weather didn't seem to bother about 400 Hudson PEP Elementary School students Thursday morning.

Instead, they were focused on their 10-minute break from class to test drive the school's new playground equipment.

Situated on the south side of the gymnasium, the set of plastic structures includes a glider, climbing wall and three "racing" slides, Principal Sue Wilson said. Perhaps its best feature is the X-wave, a teeter-totter that offers multiple motion for up to 20 kids at once, she added.

Above the playground equipment, a canopy of charred pine branches still remain from a fire Aug. 4 that destroyed the previous playground — a $34,000 structure built two years earlier through PTA fundraisers.

DENVER, CO - Money won't be an issue for a high school civics class trying to bring a playground back to the Perk Hill Coffee House.

The nonprofit that owns and produces the annual Colorado Garden and Home Show is giving the students a $10,000 grant to get the project off the ground.

"We love the idea that we do the show and it avails our opportunities to provide these horticulture scholarships and grants," said Jim Fricke, executive director of Colorado Garden Show Inc.

The grant is contingent on the city of Denver making it possible for the popular playground to be re-installed, Fricke said.

"If we take money out as an issue, then the kids can still continue to do their civic duty to try to make it happen, and the city of Denver can take a look at it and not have to worry about the financial aspects," he said.

MOUNTAIN FALLS, VA — Dianna Tate remembers when there were only six children her age in the Wilde Acres housing area of Mountain Falls Park.

In those days, the children shared a school bus with the residents in Shawneeland.

Sometimes Tate, 39, still can’t believe how much her Frederick County community has changed since the 1970s when she walked the woodland trails and caught salamanders with her small circle of friends.

"The community has grown tremendously," she said.

Approximately 350 families live there now — and nearly 40 elementary-aged children pack an entire school bus.

Those children of Mountain Falls Park need a nice place to play, she said, and she’s hoping a revamped playground could provide that.

The list of cities where KaBOOM! has funding opportunities for playspaces has changed recently.

Community Partners are organizations interested in providing safe places for children to play. We work with a myriad of types of organizations, including non-profits, schools, parks, municipalities, neighborhood associations, and other youth-serving organizations. Each Community Partner for KaBOOM! projects must have access to a good location for a playground and bring the energy and enthusiasm needed to plan, fundraise, and actually build the playground.

Think you have a good project for this opportunity? Click here and see if your city is on the list.

WAHPETON, ND - Central and Zimmerman elementary schools in Wahpeton are still waiting for new playground equipment. However funds continue to come in to help toward the Playground Improvement Group's goal of $70,000 by August 2008. Currently, the project has brought in just over $30,000 through fundraising events, business and service organization donations, families of students and students themselves. More than 15 sources have contributed to the project so far.

Although a total of $30,034 has been raised for the project since January 2006, only $25,700 sits in the project's account due to a few items that were already purchased for the two playgrounds. Handicapped access swings were purchased for both elementary schools and the student council purchased a Huskie bench. Also, a new teacup spinner, similar to a smaller sized merry-go-round, has recently been added to the playground at Zimmerman Elementary. The six foot spinner accommodates up to six children at a time, and Elaine Klocke, Playground Improvement Steering Committee member, said the children were all excited about the new addition.

"I don't know if all the kids got rides," she said. "The lines were so long."Now that a few smaller additions have been taken care of, Klocke said they are pushing to get the $70,000 by the end of summer 2008.

BREMERTON, WA - Woodlands Elementary School students have a new playground to enjoy thanks to a down-to-the-wire construction job that was pulled off Friday. Volunteers from several local Home Depot locations, the Navy’s SeeBees and members of the PTA worked all day to get the playground built by the PTA’s Saturday deadline.

“It’s a labor of love, it really is,” playground project coordinator Cindy Kleinfelter (aka,cekleinfelter) said.

To qualify for their $5,000 Home Depot-KaBOOM! Community-Build Playspace and Field Refurbishment Challenge Grant, the group had to have the playground constructed by Dec. 1.

Fortunately, everyone on hand was eager and willing and some even had personal ties to the project.

Cindy is a regular on the KaBOOM! forums. Woooo Hooooo! Yeah, Cindy! You did it!! Congratulations!

Log in and add your congratulations to mine! 

BELLEVIEW, FL - Red and green monkey bars, a rocket and slides were just a few things children in Belleview said would make up their dream playground.

Dakota Carpenter wanted to see a pool, along with an excavation pit at the playground.

On Thursday, seven children participated in the design phase for a $100,000 interactive playground to be built at the city-operated Cherokee Park a few blocks west of U.S. 441.

FAIRFIELD, IA - When the weather outside is frightful, one local group would like children to have someplace to play that's warm and delightful.

The Fairfield/Vedic City Moms Group has teamed with Beth Alonso, a local mother of two, to establish The Play Room, Fairfield's Indoor Playground.

Approximately $20,000 is needed to renovate an upstairs room of the Roosevelt Community Recreation Center, which the Fairfield Park and Recreation Department has offered for use. The money also will go toward floor padding and playground equipment.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Standing next to an aging playground, surrounded by cracked and crumbling pavement, neighborhood leaders and elected officials gathered at Cabrillo Playground in the Richmond District Saturday morning to kick off the campaign for Proposition A, a bond measure that would pour $185 million into San Francisco parks.

Organizers acknowledged they have a lot of work to do in the eight weeks until the Feb. 5 election, but said they are confident they will be able to persuade two-thirds of San Francisco voters to approve the bond, which earmarks the bulk of the money, $117.4 million, for projects at 12 neighborhood parks.

STRATHAM, NH - While looking at a sort of nothing article announcing some fundraising efforts for the Stratham Playground at Stevens Park in Stratham, NH, I found an interesting blog. It's a simple thing, created from a standard template on a free "blog" system, but it's a nice looking site.

http://www.strathamplayground.blogspot.com/

They've got the details of their fundraising, including scanned advertising materials. There might be some hints for other communities here.

Here are some other nice web sites that people have created on the KaBOOM! site:

• Broadmoor in New Orleans
• Hailey's Wish of Westminster, MD
• Willett Playground Project of Attleboro, MA
• The St. Stephen's Elementary Playground Project in Halifax, NS
• CC Meneley Elementary School's Slide Into Spring effort in Gardnerville, NV

AMHERSTBURG, ON -- The Rotary Inclusive Playground Project continues to move forward with construction tentatively scheduled to begin in Spring 2008. The Playground Committee continues to plan for fundraisers throughout the winter months. On November 30, 2007 we will be participating in the “PA Day Fun “at the Amherstburg Area. Children will be able to take part in public skating and other fun events with part of the proceeds to go to support the playground project.

On Dec. 1 and 2 Meadows by the Lake (9278 County Rd. #41) will be hosting a couple of fundraisers to support the project. On Saturday night December 1st “WhaddaKnight DJ” Reg Minor along with live entertainment will be featured and on December 2 from 4-8pm there will be an All-U-Can Eat Buffet, with part of the proceeds from both events to benefit the playground.

In the new year we will also be moving forward with a couple of additional fundraisers.

GAUTIER, MS -- The chilly weather didn't stop Martin Bluff Elementary students from enjoying the official opening of their new playground Tuesday morning.

About 30 screaming, laughing children scrambled onto the playground after the 9 a.m. ribbon cutting ceremony for a new $25,000 playground donated by the BP Pascagoula gas processing plant.

After some students played for a few minutes, all 469 students who were gathered outside paused to yell "Thank you" to BP. The new play area has stairways, tunnels and two slides that were available for all students that afternoon during their normal recess time.

Martin Bluff's playground still has the 16 swings and an old wooden fort from when the school was built seven years ago.

Tracy Walker, president of the school's parent teacher association, said the school applied for a KaBOOM! playground in August 2006, but that plan fell through.

BP "stepped up and said they wanted to be involved in the community," Walker said.

BLOOMINGTON, MN - Bloomington is a city rich in parks, but that doesn't mean the city is flush with cash to maintain them.

A new parks master plan estimates Bloomington needs $27.6 million in new funding over the next five years to renovate existing facilities, complete trails and finish parkland acquisition.

The new plan, the first done in more than 30 years, is a blueprint for a park system that is nearly complete and is starting to show its age, said Randy Quale, parks and recreation manager.

DOVER, OH - Two members of a Dover citizens committee working with the Park Board to build a state-of-the-art playground at Dover City Park revealed their recent fundraising efforts to Dover City Council Monday night.

Beth Aljancic and Jody Niklaus, who describe themselves as “two moms who decided that we needed a park and a playground,” are selling holiday yard art to help raise money for the project.

Their committee, known as Building a Dream, Dover City Playground Project, was formed in April and has raised $4,000 so far. Their goal is $325,000 to replace playground equipment with new age-appropriate and handicap accessible equipment over a rubbery, maintenance-free surface.

TUSCALOOSA, AL - In the middle of the ice storm of 1993, Verner Elementary school teachers, parents and community members got together in the freezing cold and built what they thought would be a playground that would last for generations.

They called it the field of dreams.

It had turrets. It had swinging bridges, a tire swing and multiple slides.

But over the last 15 years, the large, wooden playground deteriorated, with loose, rusty nails barely holding together weathered, splintered pieces of wood.

On Monday and Tuesday, the playground was torn down, much to the dismay of some students.

“They were totally devastated,” said Verner second-grade teacher Elizabeth Welch, who brought her students to watch the construction equipment at work.

Verner Principal Beth Curtis had to get on the intercom to reassure the children that even though the playground was being demolished, it would not be the end of their play space.

WHITE LAKE, MI - When the bell rings at 12:15 p.m. at Oxbow Community School, a mob of fourth- and fifth-graders slam through the doors onto the playground for recess.

They race to the best swings, compete for the best soccer ball and scream like they're at a rock concert.
 
Recently, the school got something it's deserved for a long time — a brand new playground structure to replace equipment that came with the school 35 years ago when it opened.

The structure was donated by Laborers' Local 1076 and Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET), an organization that gives back to the community. The LECET program was founded 10 years ago to demonstrate how cooperative efforts between union contractors and union labor could positively impact a community.

KEARNEY, MO - Fifth-grader Andrew Shepherd smiles when he talks about the new playground at Kearney Elementary School. It has a rock wall and three slides — equipment that fits little kids and big kids alike.

“The first day, everybody wanted to play,” Andrew said. “They were pushing their way through.”

The former playground, which had been in place since the 1970s, was designed for younger children.

“There was nothing for the bigger kids to play on,” said Carol Taylor, a mother of a Kearney Elementary first-grader.

In addition to the new playground, Kearney Girl Scout Troop 3101and the AT&T Pioneers, the volunteer arm of AT&T, painted a new foursquare box and a map of the United States on the ground.

COSTA MESA, CA - The Costa Mesa City Council has approved the construction of the city’s first playground for the disabled. The $1.4-million project at TeWinkle Park will be funded through a grant from the state Parks and Recreation Department and private fundraising by the Angels Charity nonprofit.

Costa Mesa will also contribute approximately $200,000 to the project, said Doug Hansen, who founded Angels Charity with his wife, Jennifer, in 2003.

FT. WAYNE, IN - Fueled with the volunteer staples of coffee and donuts, about a dozen people arrived at Waynedale Elementary School early Saturday to assemble and install playground equipment.

While most of the neighborhood seemed to drowse through the quiet weekend morning, workers on the playground stood beside a looming mound of wood chips that was destined to cushion students who will climb on, dangle from and slide down the new equipment.

In the school’s gym, however, that equipment was still in pieces, though placed in neat piles, as volunteers undertook the daunting task of the “some assembly required” project.

DENVER, CO - Denver Parks + Recreation Manager Kim Bailey was joined on Saturday, November 3, 2007, by District 1 Councilman Rick Garcia and other neighborhood supporters for the unveiling of the remodeled Berkeley and Rocky Mountain playgrounds.

....

Located in Berkeley Park at 46th and Tennyson, the newly designed playgrounds were first targeted for remodel in the 2006 CIP budget. Because of public input, beloved elements such as the concrete sea monster at Berkeley and the concrete frog at Rocky Mountain Park remain a part of these playgrounds, but have been made safer with resilient rubber surfacing around their base. Originally created in 1967, the sea monster and frog have survived three playground redesigns.

Using these elements as cornerstones, Berkeley playground and Rocky Mountain playground were built with a theme of "Night Sky" and "Colorado Nature" respectively. Night Sky incorporates a space odyssey feel, while Colorado Nature has frogs, lily pads and other elements.

WACO, TX - They say it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes almost that many to erect a children’s center playground.

For two sunny fall days last month, members of Lake Shore Baptist Church joined with the parents and teachers of its children’s center to dig holes, hammer pilings, mix cement and shovel rocks, sand, dirt and wood fiber.

With volunteers from the Baylor Transfer Council and the Freeman Center, they also struggled with installing huge sunshade frames and helping to erect climbing and sliding structures.

The Rev. Dorisanne Cooper said the work crews had no idea “what an incredible community building experience it would be” when starting the process more than three years ago.

ATHOL, MA -  The wait for the re-opening of the Lake Park playground is over, and children who had eagerly awaited the event now have a safer, healthier place to play that replaces the old toxic playground.

Jacob Brissette, 8, is the son of Heather Brissette, who served on the playground committee, which kept fundraising efforts going and kept the project at the forefront. He said he thinks the new playground is a lot better.

He should know. He lives in the neighborhood and played on the old equipment, watched it come down, waited during cleanup and stared at an empty lot for two years, eagerly awaiting the re-opening.

Luckily for Jacob, the new equipment went up in only two days with the help of volunteers. He admits it was hard to wait, even for just two days.

“I like this a lot,” he said with a huge smile on his face while he played on the Mobius climber with a friend Friday. It was the first day the playground was open to the public after an inspection Thursday afternoon.

BANNING, CA - Coalition building is a craft, and Greg Kirwin (akaboomerzoomer) seems to have some talent at it.

The Precious Blood development director, who lives in Banning, managed to assemble a team that included Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley, entrepreneur C. Allan “Chuck” Braswell, Beneficial Finance, KaBOOM! and the local archdiocese to finance a doubling of pre-school enrollment at Precious Blood School, 117 W. Nicolet St. in Banning.

Ashley was able to deliver some county funds because the pre-school is universal.

“This pre-school is open to anybody, not just to Catholics,” said Mary Ashley, the supervisor's wife, who toured Precious Blood with her husband on Nov. 1, met students and staff, and had lunch.

Supervisor Ashley said that quality pre-schools are “essential.”

“With so many folks moving into our area, and almost all of them families in which both parents have to work, they can't survive without strong pre-school programs,” he said. “They deserve our help.”

The first step in expanding the pre-school was to build a new playground for tots. Kirwin, whose daughter attends the pre-school, had attended a KaBOOM! playground building seminar and spearheaded the drive to upgrade the Precious Blood tot lot.

JOHNSTOWN, PA - By spring, a volunteer group will begin development of a new playground in Johnstown’s West End neighborhood.

The play area is part of a continuing effort to improve the Fairfield Avenue lot that also hosts the city’s skateboard park and a basketball court.

Having already assisted with relocating the controversial skate park to another part of Bheam School playground, West End Improvement Group now is moving forward on the playground project with help from a $2,500 grant.

“It’s going to be really nice,” said Marie Mock, the group’s secretary-treasurer.

The grant, from Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, will assist with landscaping and other site preparation for a playground.

More than a year later, steady tears are still normal for Janet Bean.

She and John would have been married 25 years in September, but his devastating murder last year, kept the two from celebrating their silver anniversary.

"You never get over it," said Bean, as she wiped her eyes.

She also may never have closure as the murder remains unsolved.

Every day Wanda Simpson walks by the desk where her sister Vicky Lynn Stroud McGraw used to answer phones and think up new business ideas for Simpson's pool supply company.

It's been nearly seven years since Simpson's baby sister was brutally murdered and now someone else occupies the space.

Nevertheless, it will hold lasting memories of McGraw.

"Vicky was a people person," Simpson said. "She was very outgoing and full of life."

Thoughts of the murders often fuel tears of sadness for both Bean and Simpson, but on Oct. 25, it was thoughts of gratitude for the 250 or so volunteers and for country music duo Brooks and Dunn that spurred tears of joy.

See photos of the build here.

Children now have playground equipment to use at Harrison Poolside Park in northwest Corydon, thanks to Boy Scout Kyle Stachewicz and the Leadership Harrison County Class of 2005-06.

The four swings, including two for handicap persons, and a unit that includes two slides and monkey bars, will be dedicated Sunday at 1 p.m. The public is invited.

Kyle, a member of Troop 22 in Corydon, wanted to build a playground as his Eagle Scout project. He had selected an area near the YMCA of Harrison County.

"I wanted a project that would last, that would be meaningful," said the 15-year-old who has been in Scouting since he was 5. A former senior patrol leader, historian and scribe, for his Troop, he now is the Troop's chaplain.

A playground seemed like a logical choice to the teenager who was used to living close to parks that had things for children to do. (The Stachewiczes moved to Harrison County about six years ago from the Chicago area.)

Congratulations, Kyle!

BRENTWOOD, NH — The Recreation Committee and the newly formed playground committee have good news. Members found out the company they had chosen to purchase playground equipment, which is to be installed next June at the Brentwood Community Center, would match funds dollar for dollar for purchasing the equipment. However the equipment must all be purchased and paid for by Nov. 31 when the company's program ends.

"We are really excited about this opportunity," said Recreation Director Donna Gill. "We were not expecting it."

The recreation and playground committees were originally planning to fund raise throughout the fall and winter and hoping to buy equipment to install next spring or summer.

....

"The estimated cost for the playground project is $40,000," said Gill. "If we can raise $10,000 by Nov. 31 and the company will match that and we save $10,000."

The playground committee and the recreation committee met recently to discuss and approve several fund-raising options to achieve the goal. The first is a big ticket raffle. The prizes are a big screen TV, second prize is four tickets to a Manchester Monarchs game, and third prize is a $100 gift certificate to Telly's Pizza. Tickets will be sold one for $10 or three for $20. The committee is selling engraved spots on a commemorative granite sign that will be installed at the playground when it is completed as the second fund-raiser. People can purchase a 20 character space for a donation of $100 or more.

"Also Joe from Brentwood Farms Greenhouses will be at the Rec. center on Nov. 29 to offer a boxwood Christmas tree decorating class to residents for $20 and he is donating the proceeds to the playground fund," Gill said.

LAKELAND, FL - It's tough to resist a kindergartner's plea.

At Crystal Lake Elementary School in Lakeland kindergarten teacher Denise Williams came up with an idea to ask corporate donors to contribute money to build a playground at the school for kindergarten students and first-graders. And she let her children do the persuading.

Williams helped her students write their own letters and draw pictures, and she sent 8-by-10 photos of the class and the existing playground to companies with a request for donations.

"I wanted to tug at the heartstrings," Williams said.

Her plan worked.

Health insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield and railroad company CSX each contributed $15,000, Wal-Mart donated $1,200 and $2,500 came from the Votum Foundation, a Lake Wales charitable organization run by developer Larry Maxwell.

NORTH FAYETTE, PA - An extra $10,000 for a North Fayette playground will help get kids in the swing of things, so to speak.

The nonprofit organization KaBOOM! has awarded the township a $10,000 grant to help build a playground in the $2 million, 34-acre community park that is under construction next to Donaldson Elementary School on Donaldson Road.

Parks and Recreation Director Bob Brozovich said he would add the money to the township's original $28,000 budget for the playground, for a total of $38,000.

"It'll make it a bigger and better facility there," Mr. Brozovich said. "It's not going to be the Taj Mahal, but it's going to make it a pretty nice one."

BURNSVILLE, MN - Pickles, pies and pennies provided funds for a new playground at Gideon Pond Elementary School in Burnsville. The new playground replaces one from the 1960s era.

Over the past year, students, families and staff members raised $46,000 to pay for the playground. Fund-raising efforts included sales of “Principal’s Pickles” by retired principal Carol Determan and current principal Laura Pierce. Students sold pie certificates, and families brought in coins for a “Pennies for Pond Playground” event this fall. The largest fund-raiser was a Math Fact-a-thon, which collected more than $15,000 while boosting the math skills of students. Contributions also came from local businesses, civic organizations and school alumni.

The new playground was installed in September, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on Oct. 30. 

(Photo by Jessica Wilson on Flickr)

DETROIT, MI - One-quarter of Detroit's 367 parks could be sold under a proposal designed to help the city shed dozens of its smallest and most worn-down parks in an effort to aid others and position the land for redevelopment.

More than half of the 92 parks are less than an acre in size -- so-called pocket parks -- tucked in neighborhoods. Some have swing sets, jungle gyms, slides and benches. They make up 124 acres of the city's roughly 6,000 acres of parkland.

Many of those neighborhoods are no longer dense in population and are dominated by urban prairies as the result of demolished homes, conditions Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's administration cites in its proposal.

The plan to sell off city parkland has generated relief among some neighbors hoping to see the lots improve and anger among those who say the city is getting rid of precious assets.

What do you think of Detroit's idea? Do you think that parkland should ever be turned over for development? Log in and comment.

OAKLAND, CA - The playground chatter blared as though coming out of loudspeakers.

But that’s what happens when a group of students first set foot on their new playground. At Oakland Hebrew Day School, they run, they roll and they scream with joy.

On Oct. 26, OHDS celebrated the completion of the school’s “upper campus” — literally, a sprawling playground on a hill next to the school. About 200 people attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The previous playground was a stretch of asphalt slightly longer and narrower than a regulation basketball court. Kids could play catch or basketball, twirl hula-hoops or run around — if there was room, said Mark Shinar, director of Oakland Hebrew Day School.

The playground “was adequate for 100 students, tight for 125 and ridiculously crowded with 150,” Shinar said. “A lot of kids wouldn’t even go out for recess because it was just too tight.”

Over the last four years, OHDS has grown from 100 to 175 students, which put a squeeze on the old playground. So one year ago, parents and the board began to raise money to expand and improve the outside space.

SALISBURY, MD - Jake Becker's canary yellow hoodie stood out against the pavement.

After snatching the blue rubber ball, the 8-year-old boy found himself in a white painted box surrounded by envious classmates.
 
His buddy, Luke Thornes, reached his hands through the crowd and retrieved the ball seconds later.

"Yeah, I want a new play center," Becker said, taking a deep breath. "I want to have bigger slides, new seesaws, a better basketball court and get a bigger four-square."

"With real basketball hoops," Thornes, 7, added.

Despite Fruitland Primary School's "antiquated" playground equipment, the second-graders relish recess, which promotes social interaction and physical activity, said Principal Darrel Morris.

The percentage of overweight youths has tripled in the past 25 years, according the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Research indicates that about 60 percent of overweight children ages 5 to 10 have at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor, while 25 percent have two or more.

If the trend continues, the CDC predicts the current generation of children may be the first ever to have a shorter projected lifespan than their parents.

In an effort to boost the student activity level, area schools are purchasing new playground equipment designed to burn more calories during the 30-minute recess time span.

( Read more to find out how they are raising the funds to pay for the new equipment.)

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - When you're an elementary student, one of the best parts of the school day is playing outside during recess. But until just recently, kids at Upland Terrace Elementary School in East Millcreek only had a few swings on their grounds for all the kids to use.

But recess these days is nothing like it used to be. Just ask sixth grader Griffin Bagley. "Usually recess was just boring and nothing to do,” Bagley said. “But there's this now and it's a lot more fun."

The whole playset is brand new this school year, but it took about three years to make it a reality. Teachers realized how much they needed to add a playground, but they knew it just wasn't in the school district's budget. So they took the issue to the parents, like PTA volunteer Cathy Ehlert. "The school has many needs … it would take years before that was top of the list,” Ehlert said. “So as parents and just the community, we decided to make the effort to have it happen sooner."

They started an all-out campaign to raise money through school carnivals, silent auctions, selling chocolate and cookie dough, and they got the kids to help.

WENTZVILLE,MO - Judy Grassmuck and her grandson Gage Zust, 3, arrived at Civic Park in O'Fallon just before a 4 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of a new, safer playground.

"It's very difficult to get a 3-year-old not to play on (playground) equipment until you tell him," Grassmuck said.

Gage was just one of the kids who enjoyed the new, colorful plastic structure that features a rubberized pad underneath the equipment to prevent injuries from falls."Eventually, we'd like to do that on all our playgrounds," O'Fallon Parks Board member Brent Stafford said.

Although the surface of the playground is level, the foam ground covering actually is deeper underneath spots where children might climb higher.

NEW ORLEANS, LA - The National Basketball Association today will announce a season-long, leaguewide community service program aimed at boosting the rebuilding effort in New Orleans in a year when the league plans to hold its marquee event, the 2008 All-Star Game, in the city.

The official announcement is expected to be made by NBA Commissioner David Stern in a news conference at Walter L. Cohen High School at 12:30 p.m. today, the same day the Hornets tip off the 2007-2008 regular season with a game against the Sacramento Kings at the New Orleans Arena.

"This program says that we're very committed to helping them rebuild and to the rebirth of the Crescent City," said Bob Lanier, a special assistant to the NBA commissioner. "The NBA truly cares. It's not just a slogan. We're committed to being difference-makers around the world."

The program will culminate with the first NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service on Friday, Feb. 15, an event in which more than 2,500 members of the league's representatives, including players, coaches, executives, media members and sponsors, will participate in daylong community service activities. The event will help tip off All-Star weekend in the city. The NBA All-Star Game will be played at New Orleans Arena on Sunday, Feb. 17.

CHARLOTTE, NC - Kids will soon have their say in what's added to a new playground at Nevin Park which will allow children with varied mobility to enjoy the facilities.

The Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department will host a workshop Nov. 12 for kids to present their ideas for the accessible playground at Nevin.

The project will have a NASCAR theme, and kids will meet with a designer to discuss plans -- maybe to include a pit area or grandstands, depending on the children's imaginations, said Karla Gray of Park and Rec's Therapeutic Recreation department.

It's important to include children in the creative process, she said, because they'll use the playground and know what they like.

ITHACA — Six-year-old Thaddeus Hunt is pretty excited about the new playground being built at the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School, where he is in first grade.

But despite the playground's state-of-the-art design and emphasis on creative play, he and his friend Keelan Lynch — who's also in first grade — said they'll still just play their favorite game: “run away from the girls.”
 
The two first graders agreed, with a chorus of “It's awesome!” that their school needed a new playground. They should know: since they walked through the door, the boys and the rest of their classmates had been forced to use 25-year-old play structures that caused a variety of injuries and had been deemed unsafe by parents and school officials. Except for a tattered basketball hoop, that equipment has been torn down to make way for playground progress.

In about two weeks their wait will be over, when the new, $150,000 playground is finally opened for the kids. This weekend, the first phase of the new playground project was completed by construction supervisors and at least 150 community volunteers, according to Cynthia Brock, the chair of the playground committee.

Photo by Erica Thum

 ATHOL, MA - Watching a forest of metal poles being erected Friday to prepare for the installation of new playground equipment at Lake Park, Public Works Director Doug Walsh said the best was yet to come.

“Wait until you get a look at the rocks,” he said. “We had to take out truck loads of real rocks to put in fake rocks.”

Heather Brissette, chairman of the committee that planned for the new playground, explained that the playground will include concrete reinforced plastic rocks for children to climb on.....

...The real rocks Mr. Walsh referred to were an unexpected challenge discovered when the Public Works Department was preparing the site and getting ready to put in 180 holes for the poles to hold up the playground structures. Workers found the ground was full of rubble from the former Lake Street School. The school was torn down in the mid-1960s and some of it was buried where it stood.

“It was mostly old blocks of granite used for the foundation,” Mr. Walsh said....

The playground project got its start in April 2005. It was prompted by parents who said their children were getting splinters from cracked and chipping wood in the fantasy-style playground structure built in 1987. Known as Wooden Park, the playground had been built with pressure-treated lumber.

While the town was considering how it could renovate the playground to prevent splinters, a student from Mahar Regional High School tested the wood and ground at the playground.

In October, his tests came back showing arsenic in the wood and ground. The lumber had a preservative that included arsenic.

In November 2005, the playground was torn down and the wood removed. This year, after extensive testing, the soil that was beneath the old playground was removed by the town and replaced with clean soil.

Over the two years since the old playground structure was removed, the Lake Park Playground Committee raised money for new playground equipment.

The group raised money at suppers and by soliciting donations from local businesses and residents. The town also approved spending $57,000 on the project, which was estimated to cost $100,000. Some of the $57,000 went to site preparation, including soil removal.

FORT WORTH, TX - Neighbors around Tillery Park near the Fort Worth Zoo simply wanted a safe place for their kids to play -- minus the graffiti and empty beer bottles.

"It's not enticing for the children," neighbor Jennifer Tayag said about the park.

But children in the area have determined what would be enticing to them: a covered wagon, train, frontier town, tree fort, rock wall, tot castle, bouncy bridge, trampoline bridge, amphitheater and slides -- lots of slides, including a boot slide, twisty slide, tunnel slide and polka-dot slide.

The children are getting their wish. Those attractions are being built this week because of a grant from the city of Fort Worth and the work of Friends of Tillery Park, an organization formed to revitalize the park.

After more than a year of planning, Build Week kicked off Wednesday for Friends of Tillery Park. The group was awarded a $25,000 matching grant from Fort Worth's Parks and Community Services Department in September 2006. Additional money needed for the $175,000 project is coming from fundraisers and donations.

CHATFIELD, MN -- At 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, rain began to fall in Chatfield, and Tim Brogan began to worry.

Will the rain be heavy? Will it continue through the week? Will City Park become a mud hole?

Brogan is the local construction manager for the construction of a large new playground in the park, with work beginning Wednesday and the playground dedication set for late Sunday afternoon. Experts from Leathers & Associates, which designed the park, will be the overall bosses, but Brogan is the local man who coordinated delivery of materials and other matters Tuesday.

About 400 volunteers are expected to help, sometimes going in three shifts per day. Others will help feed them. Volunteers are mostly from the area, but also include the Rochester Community and Technical College football team; the RCTC volleyball team; the Minnesota Vixen, which is a Minneapolis-based women's pro football team; and the Rochester Ice Hawks hockey team.

GREENSBURG, KS - After a tornado devastated Greensburg last spring, Spangles restaurant managers decided to do something to help.

The children of Greensburg lost a lot, so building a playground made sense, said Rene Steven, Spangles director of operations.

The playground will be installed today by about 15 Spangles volunteers at Greensburg's Sunset Acre Park.

The tornado left the park "with absolutely nothing there but broken down trees," Steven said.

The project started with the restaurant chain soliciting $1 donations from customers to help the devastated town.

One Wichita customer, an official with Specialty Patterns, gave $5,000. Customer donations ended up totaling more than $20,000 and have been used to buy playground equipment, Steven said.

Others from the Wichita area are helping, too. Cornejo & Sons is donating gravel. Star Lumber is providing timber for a border. Dirtwork Contractors is transporting materials. PG Playgrounds is coordinating the installation.

(Note: I remember sitting in a hotel restaurant, eating breakfast and watching the news stories of this devastating tornado unfold. There are some amazing photos of the damage here. To see the people of Greensburg and Wichita rally together for their kids at a time when they are rebuilding their entire town is really an inspiration. Amy Lee, KaBOOM!)

TYLER, TX - Students at Jack Elementary are enjoying new playground equipment thanks to donations and fundraising efforts from the community.

A colorful new piece of playground equipment - complete with slides, a ladder and climbing wall - for the youngest grades at the school was installed earlier this month, and students came out to celebrate and say, "thank you," Thursday morning, along with Tyler Independent School District officials.

"When you think of children, you think of them playing," said Jack Elementary Principal Shauna Hittle. "We work very hard every day within the school walls. To see them out here just enjoying themselves and each other and enjoying school is a really great feeling."

"Wow," was the initial reaction from students when they saw the playground equipment, Ms. Hittle said.

"It was like Christmas" for them," she said.

Lisa Preddy, president of the Jack PTA, said the playground cost about $22,000 and was made possible by donations and PTA fundraising efforts.

SPRINGVILLE, NY - In just one day, about 140 volunteers are building a unique playground for some very special children.

It's called the Enchanted Garden - and soon it will be filled with children who may have never played on a playground before.

Piece by piece and screw by screw, this group of volunteers is building a playground - literally from the ground up.

But it's not just any playground - it's specially designed for children with all types of developmental disabilities.

"We had an old, 20-year-old playground that was causing the kids to get slivers and we had bees' nests in it,"said Executive Director Chris Lewis.

Now the more than 100 children who attend the Preschool Learning Center in Springville will be able to play on this outdoor jungle gym, even if they're in a wheelchair.

NEWTON, IL - After spending weeks collecting donations from community members in exchange for their pledges to walk, run or read for specific time periods, Emerson Hough students — along with their families and neighbors — will gather at the school playground Saturday for a Triathafunathon.

“We’re in some very preliminary stages of fundraising for a new playground,” Emerson Hough Principal Jim Gilbert said. “The old fort will eventually need to be replaced. It’s starting to show lots of wear and tear, and we need to create greater handicap accessibility.”

School administrators are in the process of selecting new equipment, and Emerson Hough PTA members have been brainstorming ideas for fundraising activities. Gilbert said PTA members decided to launch the fundraising campaign with the Triathafunathon.

“Instead of selling things, the children make pledges for healthy things they are going to do — read so much a week, run, walk,” Gilbert said. “Kids then solicited donations from relatives, friends and neighbors.”

From 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Emerson Hough students will participate in the running and walking segments of the Triathafunathon. Other fundraising activities during this time will include free games, face painting for 50 cents, pumpkin painting for $1, a blow-up slide for 25 cents a turn, snacks and beverages from 25 cents to $1 and a silent auction. Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will include a hamburger or hot dog, chips and drink for $2. Games also will continue until 12:30 p.m., when prizes will be awarded to Triathafunathon participants.

NEW ORLEANS - A new group, Kenner Community Dream Builders Inc., has been formed to secure financing and build a playground at Kenner City Park, specifically designed to meet the needs of children with physical or mental disabilities.

Dream Builders was the brain child of Kathy duTreil, who is in charge of grant research and administration for the City of Kenner. With the help of board members Kenner Recreation Director Ken Marroccoli, Kenner Assistant Director of Recreation George Bode and Kenner 5th District Councilman Kent Denapolis, duTreil incorporated the Dream Builders as a non-profit organization to seek money and then design and build the playground

"Each child deserves a chance to play in a safe environment," said duTreil. "There are no other playgrounds in the area that are designed to meet the requirements of special needs children."

The project is estimated to take two years to complete and cost $1.5 million. Money will be raised through grants, private foundations and other fund-raising activities. The money will be used not only for equipment but for surface preparation, a shelter, lighting, fencing, restrooms and a concession area.

TARRANT COUNTY, TX -- Finding the right playground -- especially if you have kids of all ages -- is like shopping for a new car: You have to test-drive a few before you find the right one. Thankfully, Tarrant County is home to hundreds of public playgrounds. But which ones are best? We left that to the experts: kids and an eagle-eyed parent. Note: All playgrounds are covered in wood chips unless otherwise noted.

The mission: Search the area for some of the best playgrounds in Tarrant County

The requirements: Lots of room to romp, shade, restrooms, seating and a place for the baby to play safely

The playground posse: The monkey bar master, age 6; her swingin' sidekick, age 4; a blanket-bearing baby who's just along for the slide, age 20 months; and a picnic-packin' mama, age "never mind"

Feeling inspired to do this in your own community? Use the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder!

CARTHAGE, MO - Some of it was hot, some was not, it was made with chicken, pork, turkey and even sausage, and the responsibility for tasting it and judging it fell on two local celebrities and the principal of the Pleasant Valley School.

Elaine Wurst, with the Pleasant Valley Parent-Teacher Organization, said nine contestants entered the school's first ever chili contest, held Saturday at the school's annual chili feed.

Television personality Alan Matthews, food writer Cheryle Finley and Pleasant Valley Principal Brenten Byrd judged the contest.

The top three of the nine contestants split a pot of $36. For the rest of the more than 100 people who attended the chili feed, it was a chance to enjoy some good food and support a good cause.

Kelly Talley, president of the Pleasant Valley PTO, said the group has used the proceeds from past chili feeds and other fundraisers to buy new playground equipment.

"We've had an awesome turnout, and we're hoping this year to purchase even more equipment," Talley said. "Some of the playground equipment we had was over 60 years old. Last year we raised $1,300 at this event, and if we could raise that, it would be great."

Photo by Jenn Potter on Flickr.

WORCHESTER, MA -- I guess I shouldn’t be so shocked at the venom being spewed at a proposed playground for kids who attend Vernon Hill School and live in that neighborhood.

After all, nobody seems to care anymore about where the children play. Playground equipment such as slides, swings and jungle gyms can only be found at two of the city’s 33 elementary schools.

“We don’t do playgrounds,” Eugene Olearczyk, plant manager for the Worcester public schools, once said.

Fortunately for the kids who attend Vernon Hill Elementary School, a parent found a way to get them a playground. Unfortunately, this parent and the playground are taking a lot grief from certain residents, who frankly need to get a grip.

I took this issue up in my previous column. Briefly, the main points are these:

Now that schools have passed their supplies and extracurricular budgets onto the back of parents, Lin Hultgren and other members of the school’s PTO sought grants and conducted fundraisers to get seed money for a playground adjacent to the school.

The city, which had promised to compensate residents who endured municipal landfill and composting operations in the Quinsigamond Village and Vernon Hill area, chipped in the bulk of the money to build the playground.

But some residents in the Granite Street and Gibbs Street area argue that the former landfill on Ballard Street, now the site of an extensive city composting operation, impacts them the most, and that putting a playground at the Vernon Hill School does nothing for them.

“Oh my God! I never expected all this to happen,” Ms. Hultgren, the parent who got the ball rolling on the playground, wrote to me.

“We only wanted a playground for our children. I expected some valid concerns, which were expressed at the meeting, those of safety, trash, etc., but never in a million years did I ever expect anything like this!”

Read more. It's a really interesting editorial on the importance of play in communities. Then log into the forums and share your thoughts.

TUPELO, MS - Fairpark will get a whole lot kid-friendlier come next year.

The Tupelo Women's Club on Thursday offered to sponsor a playground between the fountain and Tommy Morgan's Coldwell Banker building on East Main Street. It should be installed by next summer, according to Downtown Tupelo Main Street Executive Director Debbie Brangenberg.

The sponsorship was offered during the regular meeting of the Tupelo Redevelopment Agency, the group charged with revitalizing the area that's home to City Hall, the Renasant Center for IDEAs and the Hilton Garden Inn.

Tupelo Women's Club President Michelle Waits said the amount of the contribution is unclear because it will be based on profits from the club's holiday tree program on Nov. 27. Last year, the club raised about $30,000 and split it among various groups.

This year, the 75-member service organization decided to combine its service and philanthropy goals by sponsoring the playground.

The club is leaving it up to TRA to pick out the equipment, and so far, the feeling is it will be a traditional playground with swings, a merry-go-round, a slide and a seesaw.

Photo by dieselbug2007 on Flickr.

LENEXA, KS - For Sunflower Elementary School students, tetherball will never be the same.

Three poles set securely in concrete during renovations to the school's playground — replacing courts of dirt that always flooded when it rained — have made the game a recess favorite recently. The renovations also added two new basketball courts, a new piece of climbing equipment, a safer, mulched play area and a concrete ramp that extends to the base of the hill that holds the playground, making it more accessible to students in wheelchairs than it was before.

These renovations have been funded, for the most part, by a $10,000 grant fourth-grade teacher Linda Irvin received last year for being the Wal-Mart State Teacher of the Year.

“I want the playground to be a place where people want to spend time — a place not just for students during school, but one where parents will bring their kids after school and during the summer,” Irvin said. “This way, everybody is going to benefit (from the grant).”

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA - Thieves at night stole a 600-pound playground structure from CommuniCare Health Centers in West Sacramento, which recently moved to be in a safer, more convenient location across from the city's police department.

"I think I was mostly angry," program director Karen Larsen said as she recalled the emotions she felt when she came to work Oct. 9 and noticed missing a jungle gym with slide, tic-tac-toe wall and climbing features.

She described how a volunteer construction worker met her that morning with a dreadful look on his face.

"He said, 'Karen, where is the playground?' and my heart dropped. I think I'm still angry. It's the lowest of the low to steal from children ... especially children who have already had a rough beginning."

The new playground, which was under construction, would have served at-risk children up to 5 years old who are part of CommuniCare's perinatal day treatment program. The program works in conjunction with Yolo County Child Protective Services to help mothers receiving substance abuse treatment.

Honestly, is there really that much of black market for 600 lbs of brightly painted playground equipment? There was a mention of securing playground equipment the night before the build day. Log in and share your thoughts and experiences.

STRATHAM, NH — The playground at Stratham Hill Park will soon get a new, more modern look as money rolls in to replace the aging equipment.

The new playground equipment, which will cost just under $15,000, was ordered recently and is expected to be installed by Thanksgiving.

Features of the new equipment, manufactured by GameTime, will include a double wave slide, two swings, and a climbing structure.

"The park is one of the central gathering places in town, and the equipment that's there is not only old but also out of date as far as the new safety codes are concerned," said resident Vicky Avery, who has worked on efforts to raise funds for the new equipment along with Beth Salzman.

The new equipment will replace a large metal slide, swings and a wooden teeter-totter at the park.

In addition to funding from the park ranger's budget and the park association, various events have been held to raise money for the equipment. Other fund-raisers will be held this fall, including the Fire Tower 5K cross country race at the park on Sunday, Oct. 21.

Photo by Ann Althouse on Flickr.

WINNIPEG, MB -- Monkey bars, swings and slides are going the way of the dinosaur. A Winnipeg school is the first in Canada to witness the latest evolution of playground equipment.

In August, Pacific Junction School in Charleswood introduced the Evos system -- a playground that looks like a geometry set, only it's more fun and more safe with no pointy compasses.

"We've become a destination playground," beamed Lynda Hofbauer, the parent and lunch-time supervisor who was the driving force behind the school getting the Minnesota-made equipment.

"It was innovative," said Hofbauer, chair of the playground committee. "It's exercise disguised as fun." Last year, the school started looking to replace its traditional equipment, and found something new, better and less expensive, she said.
 
The Evos play structure just came out this year, said Michael Lacroix, a sales specialist at Playgrounds-R-Us, the central Canada distributor of the equipment designed by Landscape Structures Inc. of Delano, Minn.

"Pacific Junction was the first school in all of Canada," Lacroix said.

The new structure was the answer to the prayers of Canadian playground designers shackled by strict new Canadian Standards Association guidelines that came out in 1998, he said.

"They took a lot of fun out of it, becoming so safety-conscious," Lacroix said.

STURBRIDGE, MA — The parents of a 4-year-old boy who drowned at a town-run day camp are trying to bring something positive from their tragedy.

Derek and Christina Frechette are the parents of Christian E. Frechette. In memory of their son, the Frechettes spearheaded a fundraising effort to build a new playground at the Sturbridge Nursery School, 518 Main St.

On the afternoon of July 13, Christian was found in a little over 3 feet of water, next to a dock that extended several feet beyond an enclosed shallow area at Cedar Lake. The boy was taken by ambulance to Harrington Memorial Hospital in Southbridge, where he was pronounced dead.

Christian was attending the Sturbridge Recreational Day Camp with his brother, Cameron, who is 14 months older. Christian also has a younger sister, Ashton. His death was ruled an accidental drowning by the state medical examiner’s office, according to Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

Mrs. Frechette, who said Christian “loved life, loved water and loved to play,” said the playground embodies her hopes that something positive can come out of the loss.

“Christian loved playgrounds and he loved to climb,” Mrs. Frechette said. “I know he would love to see it (the new playground) and I’m sure that he will be watching all the kids playing on it.”

Through donations, fundraising and a grant from the national nonprofit organization KaBOOM!, Mr. and Mrs. Frechette raised enough money to build a new “Playworld” playground structure, which is estimated to cost $15,000, she said.

BRIGHTON, CO -- What was nothing more than a brown, bare patch of ground at the Robert M. Shopneck Boys & Girls Club in Brighton at 8 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 2, was ready to host the first football game or soccer match by 3 p.m. that same day.

John Lynch, defensive back for the Denver Broncos, teamed up with 150 volunteers from Home Depot, KaBOOM, AmeriCorps and the Brighton community members to lay sod and build structures for the new football and soccer field south of the club.

Lynch arrived at 1 p.m. and stayed until after the closing ceremonies at 2:15 p.m. He met with volunteers, helped lay several rolls of sod, signed autographs and posed for pictures.

“This has been an awesome experience,” Lynch said during the closing ceremonies. “I wish I could be here to see the kids’ eyes when they walk in here and see this. There is a need for Boys & Girls Clubs in a lot of communities. You know when you’re working on something like this you’re going to have a positive impact on a lot of young lives.”

Photo by JoAnn Knutson

SPAULDING, MI -- After raising funds to pay for the $50,000 project, organizers hope to build it in one day.

Spaulding Township is setting the bar high to get residents involved in building a playground in the Township Park.

The challenge? Complete the project in seven hours.

Spaulding Township Activities and Recreation Team, or START, volunteers plan to erect separate colorful structures for 2- to 5-year-olds and 5- to 12-year-olds from

8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at the park, 5825 Cole.

New swings, slides, rock-climbing walls, a bridge and climbing bars will replace worn equipment that youths have used for more than 30 years.

"I'm confident that we can do this; we just need the manpower," said Kathy Kross, 36, public relations chairwoman for START. "This will bring the community together and provides something to keep children occupied."

SPOTSWOOD, NJ - The E.R. Appleby School playground was shut down recently after officials learned that it violated state safety standards.

The playground at the Vliet Street school, which houses the borough's second- through fifth-grade students, was inspected recently under a new state mandate. Violations that came up during the inspection were not worth correcting, so the equipment was taken down entirely, according to Board of Education member Donna Faulkenberry.

Borough Councilman Thomas Barlow said during a meeting last week that some students had to be taken to the hospital after receiving splinters while using the equipment. Councilwoman Marge Drozd said it wasn't the wood per se, but the fact that it hadn't been properly treated and sanded.

Faulkenberry said the height of the decks, the material of the slide and the spacing of equipment were listed among the violations. Also, the swing set was too close to the other equipment.

"There were so many issues and it didn't make sense to just try and fix it," she said.

The playground was built in a community effort about 15 years ago, she noted.

"A lot of rules have been revised since this was put in," Falkenberry said.

KNOXVILLE, TN -- The associate director of a North Knoxville daycare has an interesting message for the person who keeps stealing her playground equipment.

She has posted a sign outside her business that reads: "To whoever is stealing our playground equipment, we hope your child likes the toys as much as ours did. God bless."

The playground toys started disappearing from All About Me Academy two months ago, and recently, another toy was stolen.

The daycare's employees say they think the sign is a great idea, and it might just have an effect.

"I would have done the same thing. I think it's a good idea to let them know we know," said Mary Murray.

"I just think it's wrong because they are taking away from kids. It's not just hurting us. It's hurting the kids," said Kathleen Kimsy. "It's their toys, and if anybody has kids, they'd understand."

ALLEN, TX -- School recess isn't what it used to be. But it may be safer.

The playground games and equipment that many parents fondly remember are disappearing. Some schools have shortened recess in the name of academics and banned activities such as tag, Red Rover and king of the mountain as too dangerous.

Teeter-totters and merry-go-rounds are a thing of the past, too. School officials say they're acting in the interest of safety. But critics say the concerns are overblown – and even damaging to children.

Jonathan Purcell, a first-grader at Vaughan Elementary School in Allen, isn't thinking about grown-up stuff. All he wants to do is get a new life out on the playground.

A girl has just tagged him, and now he must touch a piece of playground equipment to restore his super-hero powers and earn some extra lives.

"We just like to run around," Jonathan said.

He's lucky. Vaughan teachers have stopped fifth-graders from playing tag because they got too rough. And nurses reported a decrease in playground injuries.

Dr. Joe L. Frost, an early childhood education expert at the University of Texas at Austin, said he cares about safety. But he fears children are losing "opportunities to develop physically, cognitively and socially" when recess activities are curtailed.

"There seems to be a dearth of information about the value of play," Dr. Frost said. "Kids need places for make-believe play.

"The best playgrounds are not necessarily the playgrounds that have the biggest, prettiest or most expensive equipment."

At Walter Reed Army Medical Center yesterday, the children came out to play.

About a half-dozen youngsters poured onto a rectangle of squishy green turf, hopped onto swings and scrambled over a jungle gym, minutes after a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new playground. Tucked behind Mologne House, a 199-room hotel for outpatients and their families, it is a burst of primary colors amid the brick-and-concrete solemnity of the center where wounded warriors learn to walk on prosthetic limbs or cope again with the trials of everyday life.
 
Toddlers to teens can spend months living in Mologne along with their injured parents, but until now they have had few outlets for their stress. About 40 children live there, said General Manager Peter A. Anderson, but many more visit when school is out.

The alternative to the outdoor playground had been a makeshift play area of toys crammed against the stairs in the building lobby.

Another option had been staring at the fish in the pond behind Mologne. "My daughter was actually counting the fish," recalled Staff Sgt. Renee Deville, who has post-traumatic stress disorder and limited arm motion from a mortar attack in Iraq. Yesterday she sat on a sun-drenched wall rimming the playground, watching daughters Janee, 4, and Amani, 9, hard at play.

"The other day, Amani made a comment that really made me cry. She said, 'I don't want you to be a military mom. I want you to be a normal mom.' How do you handle that?" Deville asked.

"Here, children can be children. They can mingle, share stories about what they were doing when their parents were away. That in itself helps," she said.

DARIEN, IL - What do you do when a school playground becomes a construction site?

Motorists driving by Lace School lately know the answer to that question. The front yard at the school, is now where students go for recess due to all the commotion on the west side.

“You have limited space out here,” said Principal Marty Casey, though he added there is some space behind the construction zone. “The PE classes go on the very west end of the property, so they can go out there and do their activities.”

Shifting the playground to the school’s front yard is just temporary, though, a consequence of the new grade-level center plan begun this school year.

After Fairview School closed in June, Darien School District 61, the school yards at Lace and Mark DeLay schools have turned into construction sites to expand those buildings to handle the increase in students.

The restructuring has put all kindergarten through second-graders at Mark DeLay and third- through fifth-graders at Lace. For the time being, Lace’s west side is full of trucks and construction workers, but Casey and the students have begun planning a new playground.

Students this week began a walk-a-thon to raise money for new playground equipment, which Casey expects to cost $40,000 to $50,000. His idea is not just to raise the money and buy new equipment.

“We’re going to have the community build it, because it’s a big chunk of money to have professionals come and build it,” Casey said. “This way you bring in community members to build it, and the inspector approves it. That saves you a ton of money.”

SWANSEA, IL -- Village leaders and volunteers today (Oct. 10) will start the four-day construction of the $200,500 Swansea Kingdom playground.

The playground, designed with a medieval theme in mind by students at High Mount Elementary School and Wolf Branch Elementary School, will be built in Schranz Memorial Park behind the fire station on Huntwood Road.

The village is still seeking volunteers for various shifts over the four-day construction period; 479 people have signed up, and village leaders were originally seeking 600.

Those interested in volunteering can just show up at anytime during construction. Or, to sign up for specific shifts, those interested can do so on the playground's Web site, www.swanseakingdom.org.

MENOMONIE, WI -- The Menomonie Community is coming together this week to build a playground the size of three houses put together. In the next four days that's what's happening at the River Heights Elementary School in Menomonie.

“I'm very excited about it and never thought Menomonie of all places would get something like this,” said Arla Falk a parent.

A huge playground is being built so children like Arla's seven year old daughter, Kathy, can experience some outdoor fun. Kathy has Rett Syndrome--a neurological disorder.

“There's no place I can take my kids to anymore. She's too big for the infant swings and she can't do the adult swing by herself,” she said.

Arala says the new playground will let Kathy feel more like a kid. She says Kathy can’t do anything by herself but she loves to play on the slide.

Kathy's future playground memories are financed by fundraisers like Bryan Beamer.

“It’s been built for the children of the community but also for children with disabilities and we're really proud of that and are excited to see kids play on it,” said Beamer.

SENECA, SC — The 565 students at Ravenel Elementary will have new playground equipment, thanks to the donation of Schneider Electric/Square D.

The Education Foundation of Oconee County Schools announced that $28,000 has been donated by Schneider Electric/Square D to fund recreation equipment at the school through a grant titled “Playing Our Way to Fitness.”

Larry Smith, plant manager for the Schneider Electric/Square D Seneca plant, said, “It is very important to Schneider Electric to be an integral part of the community. We have several means of giving back to the community for the support that we receive from the community, the primary vehicle being the Square D Foundation. That foundation we have certain amounts of money allocated that we are able to give to various worthy causes in the community. This case, after seeing the great investment that the school district was making in Ravenel Elementary, we decided to apply for a special grant from the foundation of $28,000 to help fund the total refurbishment of the playground.”

EAST WINDSOR, CT - It started with a simple wish by Joseph Stanley for a new playground at his school, Broad Brook Elementary.

And less than 18 months later, on Friday, the playground was dedicated.

Joseph, who's now 8 years old, won $5,000 through a Children's Television Network contest for a new playground last June.

It didn't take long, however, to realize the playground would cost a lot more.

In short order, Joseph's mother, Lynn Stanley, went to work and raised more than $125,000 for a playground for the school.

And it took less than 18 months to accomplish.

HOOVERSVILLE, PA - The homecoming weekend celebration came to a close Sunday afternoon with the official presentation and dedication of the refurbished Hoover Field and playground.

Opening remarks by Ken Karashowsky, borough council president, welcomed the few heat-braving attendees to “celebrate and give thanks” for the borough workers and all the volunteers who made the project a success.

Before the makeover, the playground had old, outdated equipment and was not frequented often. In fact, it is the same equipment on which he played as a child, when the elementary school still stood in that location, before it burned down in the early 1970s, he said.

The new Hoover Field playground, still located near state Route 403 and Charles Street, spans a 116-foot by 58-foot area and has sea-themed activity areas for both younger and older children that include swings, slides and rock-climbing walls. It was primarily funded by a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) grant in the amount of $40,000, with a $23,500 local match. Local organizations like the Central Community Club, Hooversville Lions Club, Hooversville VFW and VFW Ladies Auxiliary also contributed monetary donations toward the project.

....

Of course, the playground would never have come to fruition without former borough manager Judy Shaffer, he said. Originally, it was her idea and efforts that got the project started from application for the DCNR grant to ordering the equipment. She was also given a certificate of recognition during the ceremony.

Councilwoman Brenda Bomboy unveiled the new sign for the playground, designed by fellow council member John Mull, while Mayor Diane Lawrence gave a few closing remarks.

“Let this sign be a reminder that all things are started with an idea,” she said. “Make time to bring your children and grandchildren (to the playground) to make memories.”

SIOUX FALLS, SD -- A Keoland boy who died in a house fire in 2002 was remembered Sunday. Eight-year-old Coty Engel died in this house fire almost five years ago. Since today was the first day of fire prevention week, family and friends gathered to honor his memory.

"We thought it would be a good time so kids could be more aware of fires so they wouldn't play with fires and get hurt," Coty's mom Connie Juhnke said.

Sunday's rainy weather forced the gathering indoors, but it was supposed to be held at a special park in Monroe.

Coty's parents donated playground equipment in memory of their son. They say it's a way of giving back to the community that has given them so much in their time of need.

"There was such an outpouring of support and the town put on a benefit for us and we just decided that the money that was brought in. We should give back," Coty's father Ron Engel said.

FERNANDINA BEACH, FL - Eagle Scout candidate Devon Bivens enlisted many people to help build a playground for the Salvation Army Hope House last month.

Hope House, at Date and South Ninth streets, is a place where members of the community can go for relief, spiritual guidance and support. In July, Hope House Manager Lynn Peterson contacted Boy Scout Troop 89 with a request for assistance.

On the trail to becoming an Eagle, a Boy Scout is required to complete a project benefiting members of the community. Devon, 14, sat down with Board of Directors member Robert Hadsock and came up with an idea to design and build a playground in the empty lot on the side of the building.

"I figured that if parents came to the center in need, they might like a safe area where their children could play," Devon said.

SPRINGFIELD, IL -- Students at St. Patrick Catholic School in Springfield are temporarily without swing sets, slides and jungle gyms. However if Norman Calmese and the staff at the Capital City Courier, a local monthly newspaper, meet their financial fund-raising goals, the children will once again be swinging, climbing and playing on brand new outdoor playground equipment.

In July, while the children were on summer break, vandals set fire to safety chips on the ground and around the playground equipment, causing extensive damage. Calmese, the general manager of the Capital City Courier, says he was saddened by the idea that the 57 children in grades K-6 no longer had swings, slides or climbing equipment to enjoy.

"If you go by there at noon, you see the kids just kind of running around in circles," he says. "They don't have anything to play on." That's why Calmese says his newspaper has decided to sponsor a special fund-raising play titled We Fall Down, But We Get Up, which centers around main character of Tony Thomas, who personally experiences the destructive elements of addiction. 

KaBOOM! and America’s Promise Alliance
Team Up to Provide a Playground to One Deserving Community

All 2008 100 Best Communities for Young People Winners Eligible for Playground Prize

WASHINGTON, DC—KABOOM!, a national non-profit that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America, today announced at the America’s Promise Alliance’s (the Alliance) 100 Best Communities for Young People National Forum in Washington, DC that the two organizations will team together to give a brand new community-built playground—valued at $70,000—to one of the Alliance’s 2008 100 Best Communities for Young People (100 Best). To qualify for the new playground, communities must be named a 2008 100 Best and a 2008 Playful City USA as part of the KABOOM! National Campaign for Play.

CALGARY, AL - A local committee and the Town are helping local youth get physically and mentally active by incorporating them in the design of a new playground.

The Glenbrook Crescent Park was designed with the help of 12 local youth, ranging in age from seven to 17.

"The playground that used to be there has been a big part of my life and I wanted to be involved in the creation of a new one so that my younger friends can have an even better playground then I did," said 15-year-old Kelly Millican. As a national gymnast, the Bow Valley High student also emphasized the importance of children staying active.

"Being active creates balance and keeps kids fit and they won’t get out there and go on it unless the playground is appealing.”

The playground was proposed to the Town's parks and recreation department as a replacement for a wooden structure in the area that was torn down. But it wasn't until Glenbow resident Mariette Dobrowolski become part of the planning committee that the unique concept of a park built for youth by youth was born.

"I can't imagine not going to the kids when it is their park," said Dobrowolski. "As adults we usually make all of the decisions, but if you are going to make a toy, who better to tell you what it should include then those that are playing with it."

CHESANING, MI - Dig deep between those couch cushions -- Chesaning's Big Rock Elementary School could use the change.

Big Rock students are collecting money today through Friday for two new pieces of playground equipment: a twisting S-shaped ribbon resembling a Mobius strip, the geometric oddity of a ribbon with only one side; and a larger structure with slides, swings and other play stations.

The Big Rock Elementary Parent Group gradually raised most of the $36,000 it cost to buy new playground items over six years, said Dawn Kelley, the group's secretary.

'We just kept adding to the kitty and we got to the point where we said, 'Oh my gosh, we can actually get something,' '' said Kelley, who lives in Chesaning.

(Photo by Jessica Wilson on Flickr)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - San Francisco's schoolyards have long been off-limits on the weekends and holidays, most with large padlocks and chain-link fences that keep families out.

The city and school district have decided to change that, announcing a pilot program Monday that would allow weekend access at up to 14 school playgrounds.

The idea sounds simple enough: Open the gates, let kids in, and then shut the gates at the end of the day.

But actually putting that into practice is not so easy.

Who will open the gates and who will close them? Who will empty the trash? Who will clean up graffiti? What happens if something gets broken? And what if someone sues after a fall off the monkey bars?

It took the city and district staff months to hammer out the details and agree to the division of labor and costs. The city is taking on nearly all financial and legal responsibility, although the school district will provide the trash cans.

"Nothing is more frustrating for me than a kid with a basketball standing outside a playground that's locked," Mayor Gavin Newsom said Monday at an event to announce the program. "This kid is going to sit around with nothing to do. That's wrong."

NEW PORT RICHEY - It's one of those impossible kinds of feats, and Chris Schnapp pretty much knows that. Still, she and her cohorts in the Parent Teacher Organization at Schrader Elementary are giving it a try.

Their goal is to raise $30,000 by Dec. 31 to buy new playground equipment for intermediate students. The old stuff was condemned and wrapped in yellow caution tape in May, then torn down before the start of the school year.

So why the rush?

If the school puts in the order by Dec. 31, installation and shipping are free. And if they have half the cash in hand before that, there's a chance to apply for a matching grant from the playground manufacturing company.

That's a substantial savings, Schnapp says. "And we'd like the fifth-graders to be able to enjoy the new playground this year before moving on to middle school next year."

It's a lofty goal, but then again, this is all about the kids.

(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin | St. Petersburg Times)

RANSOMVILLE, NY - Five-year-old Ryleigh McCoy likes the slide, the swings and the firemen’s pole.

“I get to put my legs on them and slide down with my feet,” she said. “And I get to play with my friends.”

The Ransomville girl was addressing the recently upgraded playground on the Ransomville Fire Company grounds on Route 93 near Ransomville Road. An unveiling last Thursday signaled the end to a nearly two-year process, which began when the Ransomville Volunteer Fire Company decided to upgrade the outdated and possibly dangerous old structure, according to fire company President Susan Hillman.

Through a $20,000 state grant and donations by Judy Rhue, in memory of her daughter, Jennifer, Rick Washuta of Modern Landfill and others, the playground was recently completed, Hillman said. It includes new playground equipment, a handicapped swing, 6 inches of rubber mulch on the ground for child safety and three new park benches.

Keith Sanders strode up to the still-growing mound of sneakers that had accumulated in Helen Cox High School's gymnasium and chucked his black high tops onto the pile.

The sneakers were only a year old, but the 16-year-old was more than willing to offer them up for a good cause.

"I've got too many shoes anyway," he said.

The pile, consisting of more than 500 pairs of sneakers displayed prominently in the center of the gym, proved a cause for celebration Friday afternoon at the pre-game pep rally in Harvey.

Students had been collecting old sneakers all week as part of a shoe drive that would benefit local playgrounds in New Orleans. At the rally, students learned that they -- along with their rivals at Edna Karr Senior High School in Algiers -- would each receive a free pair of Nikes for participating in the drive.

(Photo by Trent M on Flickr)