Rotary playground opens to rave reviews
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
For a child, a year is a very long time to wait. For the children who live in the vicinity of new Rotary Club playground off North East Street, the whole year of waiting for the playground's completion did not seem as long as Monday afternoon, as they watched the final bolts go in and waited for the word that the park was officially open.
On Monday, Rotarian Darrell Tissot was putting some finishing touches on the playground, which is situated at the bottom of the hill behind the Hillsboro fire station, by spreading mulch in the area underneath the equipment. He said that the neighborhood kids have been waiting all summer for the work to be completed.
"They stood at the top of the hill all afternoon waiting until I said it was OK to play," Tissot said. "One little boy has been here every day waiting for it to be done."
As previously reported in the Highland County Press, the Rotary Club had secured a $25,000 grant from Rotary International to use for the park, and that Tissot has offered to contribute $25,000 if Hillsboro Rotary agrees to raise funds to match it, with a possible $75,000 to go toward the park. Two phases of construction of the park have been proposed, with the first phase containing playground equipment and the second phase containing a shelter house.
When Rotarians approached the Hillsboro City Council last year about installing the park, they said the club intended to treat the park as an extended community service project.
Neighborhood kids Diamond Dowd, Desmond Dowd, Destiny Dowd, Rodney Fulkerson, Steven Mumford, Tia Long, Jakwon Clark, Bryson Captain and Tyson Captain, while running through obstacles, hiding in slides, and jumping down stairs breathlessly exclaimed that they were excited to have a neighborhood playground.
"It's so much fun!" Diamond Dowd said. "We've waited a long time for it."
For a child, a year is a very long time to wait. For the children who live in the vicinity of new Rotary Club playground off North East Street, the whole year of waiting for the playground's completion did not seem as long as Monday afternoon, as they watched the final bolts go in and waited for the word that the park was officially open.
On Monday, Rotarian Darrell Tissot was putting some finishing touches on the playground, which is situated at the bottom of the hill behind the Hillsboro fire station, by spreading mulch in the area underneath the equipment. He said that the neighborhood kids have been waiting all summer for the work to be completed.
"They stood at the top of the hill all afternoon waiting until I said it was OK to play," Tissot said. "One little boy has been here every day waiting for it to be done."
As previously reported in the Highland County Press, the Rotary Club had secured a $25,000 grant from Rotary International to use for the park, and that Tissot has offered to contribute $25,000 if Hillsboro Rotary agrees to raise funds to match it, with a possible $75,000 to go toward the park. Two phases of construction of the park have been proposed, with the first phase containing playground equipment and the second phase containing a shelter house.
When Rotarians approached the Hillsboro City Council last year about installing the park, they said the club intended to treat the park as an extended community service project.
Neighborhood kids Diamond Dowd, Desmond Dowd, Destiny Dowd, Rodney Fulkerson, Steven Mumford, Tia Long, Jakwon Clark, Bryson Captain and Tyson Captain, while running through obstacles, hiding in slides, and jumping down stairs breathlessly exclaimed that they were excited to have a neighborhood playground.
"It's so much fun!" Diamond Dowd said. "We've waited a long time for it."
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