Accessible playground at Baldwinsville’s Community Park is open

BALDWINSVILLE — The Waldon family no longer has to drive out to Onondaga Lake Park for their children to play together on a playground. Thanks to the Baldwinsville Lions Club, the village of Baldwinsville and community development funding from Onondaga County, the Waldons can head down the street to Community Park to use the wheelchair-accessible swing set.

David Waldon and his mom, Adriana, cut the ribbon on the swing Oct. 29. Lion Jack Osinski looks on.

David Waldon, 6, cut the ribbon on the platform swing and tested it out Oct. 29, just a couple of weeks after the village of Baldwinsville and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon celebrated the grand opening of the whole playground Oct. 12.

Lions Jack Osinski and Ron Schmidt, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and Baldwinsville Mayor Dick Clarke were among those celebrating the grand opening of an accessible playground at Community Park on Oct. 12. (Submitted photo)

The Palmer first-grader was eager to get swinging. David’s mother, Adriana Waldon, and Lion Jack Osinski strapped David’s wheelchair into the swing and the boy cheered.

“Watch me! I’m on a swing!” David giggled. “I’m doing it — yay!”

“That giggle means the world,” Osinski said.

David’s older siblings, Chase and Gabriella, joined him on the traditional swings adjacent to the accessible platform swing.

“For him to have the ability to swing with his brother and sister, it’s amazing,” John Waldon said as he watched his children play.

“It’s going to be so nice for him to have a place where he can be like a typical kid,” Adriana said. “He loves playgrounds, so to have one he can actually play on — it means a whole lot to him.”

The Waldons’ new home is close to Community Park.

“This is perfect,” Adriana said. “We’ll be able to come use it all the time now.”

The Lions Club began researching the feasibility of a platform swing in 2019. While the Lions have maintained Community Park for more than 60 years, the village of Baldwinsville owns the property. The village applied for a Community Development Block Grant from Onondaga County to offset the cost of the project and had some of the playground equipment professionally installed.

Over the last three years, the Lions Club has raised money to augment the community development grant. The New York State and Bermuda Lions Foundation, Brandel/Murphy Youth Foundation, Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation and the Chi Master chapter of the Beta Sigma Phi service sorority chipped in as well.

“To me, this was one of the best ways to donate — to see this little guy get his swing,” said Donna Wilson of Beta Sigma Phi.

Donations also came in memory of three B’ville Lions who passed away before the project was complete: Robert Caswell, Jerry Schrank and Joseph Kieskowski.

“The Village of Baldwinsville DPW was absolutely irreplaceable in a lot of what we did down here. They cleared the entire site for us and prepped the ground,” Osinski said.

Volunteers from the Baldwinsville Lions Club built a wheelchair-accessible swing at Community Park. (Submitted photo)

Forty bags of concrete and $14,000 later, the Lions have added the platform swing. A volunteer crew of five Lions — Osinski, Ron Schmidt, Fred Converse, Bert Mead and Greg Hacker — hand-mixed cement for the accessible swing and installed it.

Schmidt said Community Park is a hidden gem of Baldwinsville. Tucked back behind the trees off Maple Road, it can be easy to drive right by the park.

“It’s gotten busier in the last 10 years as they’ve re-paved and added the kayak launch,” he said.

The next project for the park, according to Schmidt, is the installation of a “Mommy-and-me” swing that allows caregivers and toddlers to swing face-to-face.