N&O - Natural Playscapes for Beauty and Fun

[chathamgardener]

By Catherine Bollinger - Correspondent

This time last year, the Kiwanis Park on Credle Street in Pittsboro was a fenced-in area with swings and other standard play equipment. The area without equipment was a steeply sloping grassy hill.

But the park has been transformed into a playscape of natural delights.

Pittsboro's parks planner, Paul Horne, oversaw the creation of a natural playground full of flowers, shrubs and trees, and play areas made from natural materials such as stone and wood.

Find the rest of the article here: http://www.newsobserver.com/life/story/200703.html

[ABashista]

You know, every time I read about the wonderful transformation of the Kiwanis Park (and it is wonderful!) I always feel a little sad for those of us who started the park 9 years ago. We raised over $60,000 and brought together Kiwanis, the town, Chatham Partnership for Children and many parents of Chatham County to build it. Before a small group of parents (mostly moms) started the project there was no real public playground for kids in Pittsboro, and certainly none suitable for toddlers.
We sold bricks, had bake sales, had yard sales, begged people for money, wrote grants, and talked to countless people about our ideas. We planned the park with the limited budget we had, and by the time our kids had grown out of a toddler park it was built. A huge percentage of the work, planning, fundraising, and even building help was done by volunteers. If ONLY we'd had someone on the staff of the town of Pittsboro who could help us with the project, I'm sure it would've been better. But we didn't have that, and I'm super thankful there's someone now who works for the town who has made it a priority.
I am so glad that Paul Horne took what we started and improved on it. He has truly made amazing improvements and brought to fruition the ideas that we had when our kids were tiny. But I wish we (and by "we" I guess I mean the media (?) could talk about the park without downplaying how much work, time, and money it took to get it started. I'm really proud of what we did! We went from a town council member asking my co-chair and I at a town council meeting  "Why should we help you mommies" to creating a public park on which all children of Pittsboro could play.
Adrienne Bashista (co-chair, Pittsboro Playground Project - 2001 or thereabouts)

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