Assembly required
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Originally published 01:08 p.m., April 18, 2008
Updated 01:08 p.m., April 18, 2008
The Peter Pan Park playground construction project is about halfway to its goal for volunteer labor and time is growing short.
Mike Dorcey, project coordinator, said in a news release that 800 volunteers are needed for the five-day building blitz, which begins April 30. So far, 400 volunteers have signed up.
Manufactured components for the playground arrived by truck Wednesday and were unloaded by city employees. The volunteers will prepare the ground, assemble the playground equipment and build those parts of the playground that were not manufactured in advance.
The volunteers will work four-hour shifts and organizers think that about 90 workers will be needed for each shift on Wednesday, April 30, and May 1 and 2. They hope for 100 to 110 at each shift on Saturday and Sunday.
The greatest need is still for construction captains to handle small crews and people who can work the first two shifts of weekdays. Many volunteers are able to donate time only on the weekend.
The project began as a community project for a Leadership Emporia class and was later expanded into a community effort to build a modern playground at the park in south Emporia. The park was donated by William Allen and Sallie White in memory of their daughter, Mary White, who was killed in a horseback riding accident in 1921.
For information or to volunteer, call Robin Nelson at 342-1600, rnelson@emporiakschamber.org, or Denise Dorcey at 794-1622, ddorcey@usd253.org.