Elden PTA seeks volunteers for playground build

Build is July 12-13

By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

Last year, the community came together to help build playgrounds at Reynolds, Palmer and Van Buren elementary schools. This summer, the PTAs at Elden and McNamara are looking for volunteers for their own playground builds.

The Elden build is up first, set to take place July 12 and 13. Charla Roth, president of the Elden PTA, shared the details with the Messenger.

“Our holes get dug on Thursday, July 11, and the real work starts Friday and Saturday, July 12 and 13,” Roth said. “We’re hoping on average to have 30 to 50 volunteers at any point in time throughout the weekend.”

Roth said the Elden PTA has connected with local fire departments, Baldwinsville Rotary and businesses such as Solvay Bank, Stewart’s, the Grimsley Agency and National Grid.

“National Grid said, ‘We had a great time at Palmer — we’d love to send out a team,’” she said.

Many hands truly do make light work, Roth said.

“It comes together quick. The build itself is two days long and it’s from 8 o’clock in the morning to 7 o’clock at night,” she said. “We do everything from putting together the equipment to pouring the concrete to laying down the stone and the mulch.”

In addition to the actual assembly work, Elden is looking for help with the care and feeding of the volunteers and their children. Kid-friendly activities will be available during the playground build, so adults and high school-age students are needed to look after the little ones. Donations and volunteers are also needed to provide breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for the builders on both days.

“We want mom and dad to attend. We don’t want them to have to choose,” Roth said of the need for childcare at the event. “It’s important for kids to see their parents giving back too. Seeing their parents involved in something like this … that just gives them a sense of pride in the school and playground itself.”

Thanks to grant money and funding from the Baldwinsville Central School District, the financing for new playgrounds has largely been taken care of. Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli secured a $125,000 grant and former State Sen. John DeFrancisco secured $55,000. The remaining funding — about $75,000 to $80,000 per playground — is budgeted in the district’s 2017-18 and 2018-19 general fund.

“It is nearly impossible for a PTA to raise this kind of money,” Assistant Superintendent for Management Jamie Rodems told the Messenger last year.

Roth said when Superintendent Matt McDonald took the helm in 2016, he was surprised to learn that PTAs were responsible for funding playground upgrades.

“He said, ‘That just isn’t right. The PTA should be doing other things,’” she recalled. “The fact that we have the support of the district and the board of education is amazing. … I can’t thank the district enough for leading that initiative because it would have taken Elden probably three years to build that kind of capital.”

Roth said being able to purchase new playground equipment for all five elementary schools “is an amazing accomplishment for our district.”

While the district is purchasing the same basic equipment for each school — much of which is geared for children of all abilities — the PTAs have raised money for additional playground fixtures.

“We had a pennies fundraiser where we raised $4,000 through collecting pennies and various change,” Roth said.

As it is part of the main BCSD campus in the heart of the village, Elden’s playground is used year-round by students and non-students.

“Our playground is used by all kinds of families,” Roth said. “Elden is not just a place where kids go during the school day. I’m always seeing kids and families out. It’s not just for usage during the school day or the school year.”

Building the playground, like raising children, will take a village, Roth said.

“We really hope that we can bring the community together and get this built for our kiddos. We’ve had people come to us and say, ‘Oh my goodness, I remember when we built the wooden playground which is no longer there,’” she said. “Connecting the district with the village is important and this community build is going to help further that along. We’re excited to meet new people, to hear their stories and to make new stories.”

Sarah Hall contributed to this story.