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

Saturday was great!  We had so many volunteers and such great weather, we finished up 2 hours early.  Thank you to all who came and helped, or came and brought food, or watched children so spouses/partners could help!

Thank you Koval's for the pot of coffee and a HUGE thank you to Good Times Cafe for the many delicious pizzas for the crew!

If you are interested in volunteering on Saturday, Dec. 3rd to help install new playground equipment, please email me to let me know at dodgeopton@gmavt.net.

Details:

• Saturday, 12.3
• 8:00am - 4:00pm
• please bring a wheelbarrow and shovel if you have them
• Pot Luck Lunch: we're looking for a few families to donate food for the workers 
• We'll have coffee in the morning, but bring your own travel mug (no paper cups).

Thank you!

OK big change of plans, just learned today.

The equipment will NOT be here for a November 19th installation date, as planned.

We are now scheduled for Saturday, December 3rd.

Hopefully there won't be snow on the ground and we won't be freezing!

If you are still interested in volunteering to help with installation/set up, please let me know. 
Time of day on the 3rd is still TBD.

Thanks,
Kate

Mark your calendars for Saturday the 19th of November - and if you are able, please consider volunteering to help construct our new playground pieces!  No special skills required.  Thanks to those of you who have already contacted me to sign up.

If you are planning to stop by the Free Clothing Giveaway on Saturday, 11/12 at Town Hall, please visit our bake sale and help support our Spring (and final) installation.  Every little bit helps.  Thank you!

As part of our Fall plans for the playground, we'll be installing a therapeutic swing on the swingset closest to the school.  That swingset will also be getting a new coat of paint - that is, as long as it stays warm enough this week to paint!

Saturday the 19th still appears to be our day for installing the new playground units.  Stay tuned for more details re: volunteer opportunities.

Golf Tournament photos

Phase 2

The overall fundraising goal for the new playground, with all we wanted it to be, was $80,000.  In Phase 1 we raised about half that amount, and spent it on the new main structure that's there now.  For Phase 2, we hoped to raise $38,000.  We have two grants that are pending, but we won't hear decisions back from the funders until after the snow flies.  At the moment, we have $19,000 in the bank.

The Playground Committee, together with Bob Goudreau, have made a plan to get some new equipment out there for the kids before Thanksgiving, spending that $19K.

Our plan is to remove the lower deck of the current structure, with its attachments, and move it to the south of the current upper deck.  This will function on its own as a climbing/play structure for younger kids.  Where that was located we’ll construct a new play structure with lots of fun climbing attachments – still attached to the current upper deck.  We’ll also have a therapeutic swing added, a maypole and a jax climber (free-standing unit for climbing for bigger kids).  And we’ll have more fun changes in store come spring.

We are going to be very tight on timing but hopefully we’ll be able to get it in the ground on Saturday, Nov. 19^th.  It’ll be cold but the ground won’t be frozen yet.  We’ll only need about 15 volunteers and no heavy equipment this time.  More details on this to come.

What we're hoping for

Playground History

The Hinesburg Community School thanks the community for all the efforts and contributions toward the renovation of our playground.  We have been actively fundraising behind-the-scenes since the main structure was erected last fall - writing grants to foundations, corporations and public entities to raise the funds needed for what we’re calling “Phase 2.”

Thank you for patiently waiting to see what happens next.

History

In 2007, a group of parents and school administrators set out to replace the 20+ year-old equipment that serves as the playground for the Hinesburg Community School and the Wainer Community Park. The old playground needed a functionality upgrade to address the needs of a greater age-and-ability-range of children. Most importantly, the playground’s deterioration had rendered it unsafe. Fundraising and planning began in 2007, and by 2010 we had raised a significant amount of funds toward our goal. Because the old playground was in such poor shape, the decision was made in the summer of 2010 to remove it as soon as possible and to erect a portion of the planned playground with the funds that had been raised up to that point. In November 2010, over the course of three weekends, groups of community volunteers (labor, equipment and food donated from local businesses) removed the old equipment and surface and installed a new main structure. Our goal for Phase 2 of this project is to purchase the additional equipment needed (climbers, swings, other freestanding units) and to finish the playground installation during the fall of 2011.