The ribbon cutting ceremony was a huge success!  Thank you to all the parents, funders, PiE members, community  members, staff and press who helped us celebrate our wonderful new playground.

And a BIG thanks to all the teachers who helped the kids assemble the most beautiful thank you book, signed by all the students!  It'll be on display in the library for all to share.  I'm so proud to have been a part of this project.

Thanks to HCS parent Kim Gordon for taking the photo below.

Above from left to right front row: HCS principal Bob Goudreau, NRG Systems and Town of Hinesburg representative Phil Pouech, Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom representatives Alan Jones and Roger Nishi, PiE playground organizers Kate Dodge, Susan Abell, Tracy Applin, Kitty Frazier, and Jen Prue. Back row: Vermont representative Bill Lippert, HCS teacher Joyce Wright, Pettinelli & Associates representatives Noel Liddy and Bob Pettinelli, Merchants Bank representatives Kelley Jordick and Molly Dillon and HCS teacher Alyssa Lasher.

We are excited to announce our Ribbon Cutting ceremony, scheduled for Monday, June 11th at 1:00pm, down at the school playground!

Many donors and some members of the press will be present, as well as many HCS students since Monday is also Field Day at school, which means a day packed with games, playing, BBQ and fun!

You are more than welcome to attend - please pass the word along to anyone you think might like to come!

ALSO - our new sign will be installed on Friday afternoon, June 8th, after school - so it'll be ready to be enjoyed by all on Monday!  Yay!

On Friday, April 20th, thanks to a grant from the VT Department of Buildings & General Services, we installed a big new rock wall on the playground.

The kids are going to be so psyched when they come back from break!

Thanks to Doug Stewart, Frank Twarog and Dan Opton for helping out.  We also have new benches at the ball field.

On Friday, April 20th, at 9:00am, we'll be installing the new rock climbing wall on the playground, with help from the Miracle playground folks and Playground Bob.

We'll also be installing two new benches at the ball field.

We only need a handful of volunteers to help - can you help?  Please let Kate know at dodgeopton@gmavt.net and plan to bring a shovel and gloves.

OK folks, it looks like we are off and running for Phase 3.

We have enough money in the budget to purchase and install a preschool play unit, to be located between HCS and the White Building, in that little courtyard right off the EEE classroom.

We'll also be installing a rock wall on the big playground (see photo) as well as two benches for the ball field.

Scheduled date for installing these items is either Friday, 4/20 or Saturday 4/21.  If you're interested in volunteering, please let me know at dodgeopton@gmavt.net.

We'll have a ribbon-cutting at a separate date and time in May, TBA.

Thanks,
Kate

Check out the article by Dorothy Pellett in today's Free Press.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120130/NEWS02/201300304/Hinesburg-group-hits-fundraising-goal-playground?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

Looks like we don't need to replace that last set of swings after all, they're just fine.
So we're looking at a few different options for additional equipment, but we need updated drawings from Bob P. at Miracle to make sure what we propose will fit in the space (that's in process).

We're looking at some vertical climbers that don't take up a lot of space but would allow kids more options for climbing.  We're also looking at a piece or two for the 3-5 yr. olds.  We also might have enough funds to pay for replacement benches for the ball field (TBD).

In other news, The State of Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services is having a reception and awards ceremony for grantees on Monday 1/30 at the Statehouse.  Bob G. and I will be attending.  Maybe we'll come home with a big check!

Great news!

We've just received word that our playground renovation project has been granted $9,000 toward it's final spring phase from the State of Vermont, Department of Buildings and General Services!

This should be all we need to complete the project.  We are tentatively looking at Saturday, May 12, 2012 as our ribbon-cutting.  SO exciting.

Thanks everyone, for all your support!

We now have a wonderful new carpet of woodchips on the playground!

Thanks so much to Tim and Jason for all their hard work for the kids.

I hope you saw our front page coverage in the Charlotte/Hinesburg Citizen newspaper last week!  Check it out here:  http://www.thecitizenvt.com/

A new load of mulch will be delivered and spread on Thursday this week, according to Playground Bob.  At that time he will also install the new swings.  Earlier this week he fixed up the Jax climber which was a little wobbly.

Thanks to recent donations from Merchants Bank Foundation and Lantman's - as well as proceeds from the Scholastic Book Fair - we are on our way to being able to replace the last set of swings and to buy a sign to thank our donors.  We hope for a ribbon-cutting community event in May 2012.  Stay tuned.

Kate