Volunteers get Playful Little Hearts Playground installed and ready for use

Some of the volunteers who helped get the Playful Little Hearts Playground installed and ready for use by area youth are pictured above standing on the new play area they helped create Friday-Wednesday, June 8-13 in Waukon City Park. Among the volunteers who helped bring the project to its final reality (some of whom are pictured at right) are Jim Dixon, John Hitner, Trent and Jayne McCormick, Scott and Cheryl Livingston, Jack, Diane, Joel, Jeff and Jared Allison, Jenny, John, Emily and Caleb Opfer, Mike A’Hearn, Tyler, Joe and Michelle O’Neill, Kenny and Shirley O’Hara, Erin, Brad, Brock, Brigid and Brenna Berns, Rick Larson, Cameron and Sara Berges, Linda and Blain Wilder, Clark Mellick, Dacia Sommer, Bailey Meyer-Benson, Stacie and Jim Cooper, and Dan Liddiard. Event organizers expressed further appreciation to Jim Dixon and John Hitner for offering a tremendous amount of support through their technical experience and use of their equipment throughout the installation process. A pat on the back should also be given to the City Park employees for clearing the installation site and allowing the volunteers to use their tools for the installation part of the project.
Volunteers started working on the project Friday evening, June 8 and continued working on the project each day until the installation was completed Wednesday, June 13, with a majority of the work being completed during the weekend days of Saturday and Sunday. Nearly 50 hours of volunteer work went into completing the installation. The Healing Hearts Infant Loss Support Group and the Veterans Memorial Nursing Council plan to continue to make updates in other areas of the park through use of the generous donations received from the community. A rummage and bake sale this Saturday, June 23 will provide another opportunity to contribute to those continuing park projects. For further details on that fundraising event, see the advertisement on Page 4A of this week's issue of The Standard. To make any other type of contribution to the Playful Little Hearts Playground or other park improvement project, contact Jayne McCormick at 319-361-3140 or Cheryl Livingston at 515-681-5160. Submitted photo.