Citizens of the Week: Builders of new playground at St. Mark’s

Published 12:33 am Saturday, October 20, 2007

Volunteers who recently helped install a new wheelchair-accessible playground at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Emery Street said they couldn’t have done it without the assistance of several heavy-equipment operators who donated their time and equipment to the project.

Butch Ellison and Rusty Maddox used Dwight Scott’s hydraulic loader to remove several large wooden structures from the old playground in preparation for the installation of new equipment to serve the church’s preschool students.

With the blessing of contractor Kim Woods, Ellison and Maddox temporarily left their jobs at a nearby home construction site to assist in the project. Later that day, Kenneth Britt brought his Bobcat with auger attachment and worked four hours to help bore 35 holes needed to install the equipment.

Jon Hudson donated a tractor and front-end loader for leveling the construction site and to help transport three tons of cement and stepping stones.

“All the volunteers involved in the final construction and building of the playground deeply and truly appreciated their effort,” said volunteer Chris Stearns, a local veterinarian. “They gave freely of their time and equipment to meet our preschool children’s needs with a new ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) playground. All the children will enjoy playing here for years to come.”

For their contributions to the new playground, The Daily Citizen names the pre-construction and construction volunteers who helped raise the new St. Mark’s playground Citizens of the Week.