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.