A few volunteers and organizers got things ready Saturday and Sunday for the rebuilding project of the Sherlock Park Playground that begins at 8 a.m. today in East Grand Forks.
"We dug 250 postholes in two days," said Penny Pape, lead coordinator of the plan to remake the playground destroyed by fire last spring. "We did final site prep."
Pape had the idea for the playground eight years ago, and she and her daughter, Katie Nelson, are co-chairs of the rebuilding project.
They have shifts of volunteers coming in to work from 8 a.m. to dark all week, with a finish and ribbon-cutting planned for about 5 p.m. next Sunday.
"The numbers are looking pretty good, but we can always use more volunteers," she said. "Especially during the afternoons."
ADVERTISEMENT
Also needed are heavy-duty wheelbarrows, heavy-duty, outdoor-style extension cords, palm sanders, shovels and steel garden rakes, Pape said. Any tools, in fact, "will be used somehow," she said.
The palm sanders are needed because wood salvaged from the fire is being reconditioned to be reused, Pape said.
The two-man crew from Play By Design arrived Sunday afternoon to oversee the project, she said.
"Anyone can walk on at any time," she said.
Except anyone younger than 14.
A noon meal will be served, as well as a supper, and a "snack shack" will be open all day.
Volunteers should park in the lot west of Fourth Street, north of or behind the movie theater on DeMers Avenue, on the east end, close to the library and park; there will be no parking along Sherlock park streets, where the lumber and other supplies will be waiting. Registration will be required, at a booth at the south end of the park, nearest the public library.
For information, call Pape at (218) 791-5843.
ADVERTISEMENT
She also encourages groups to volunteer together; they should call Terri Horpedahl at (218) 779-0428 so they can be scheduled during optimum times, Pape said.
