By Lynne Hendricks
Staff Writer
—
AMESBURY — With three children under 7 years of age, resident Michelle Sanchez spends her fair share of time at Town Park. It's there that her daughter and twin boys expend their youthful energy on the wooden play set and meet up with their friends. It's also there that Sanchez gets a chance to mingle with other mothers and talk.
Last fall, while watching their children play, Sanchez and a group of other parents remarked that the playground equipment installed 18 years ago at the park was aging and could use a renovation. Though the town does try to maintain them, she said, it's not uncommon for children to emerge from the playset with a splinter or two, thanks to the weathering that's occurred on the structure over its nearly 20-year lifespan.
"We thought, 'Gee, wouldn't it be nice to update the play structures at the park?'" said Sanchez. "I sent out a feeler e-mail early on to see if I was crazy and would be a one-man band. But I got a lot of support."
E-mails she sent out to other parents and community members were returned with suggestions for things people feel would be nice additions to the park — like outdoor lighting to deter vandals and perhaps some reconfiguring of the basketball court to accommodate two games of play at the same time.
Now, one year later, the small nucleus of parents who planted the seed for renovating Town Park has grown to a much larger group of community members ready and willing to raise funds to begin design work on the project.
"I just think that if we can do it as a community — why not?" said Sanchez. "I know that the town has their own budget issues and I'd rather the town put their money toward the schools. If we can privately do the park — why not?"
As the one spearheading the effort, Sanchez got some help early on from Municipal Councilor Ann Ferguson, who presented her with documents and letters compiled when Ferguson and others undertook to better the park 18 years ago. Ferguson also teamed Sanchez up with other members of the Amesbury Improvement Association, an organization Ferguson has been involved with for some time. They formally organized under the name "Amesbury Recreation Committee" and now stand poised to begin taking donations for the project under the nonprofit umbrella of the AIA.
"Right now we don't have a whole lot," said Sanchez. "I think we might have about $2,000. But we have three big fundraisers."
The first fundraiser, she said, will take place at Flatbread Company on Tuesday, Sept. 21 from 5-9 p.m., with a portion of proceeds for the evening donated to rebuilding the park. The second fundraiser will celebrate the fall season Munich-style, with an Oktoberfest on Oct. 4 at the Ale House on Main Street.
"It's going to be a buffet, with live music, a silent auction and a cash bar," said Sanchez. "It's $25 a ticket per person and tickets are on sale now."
Ale House owner Jeff Nahas, whose wife is on the rebuilding committee, is offering the space, the food and the servers for free for the evening, so ticket sales will go directly to benefit the project.
"We can sell 180 tickets," said Sanchez. "That's a big one for us. We're hoping to sell out. We're about one-quarter of the way there now and tickets just went on sale last week, so we think we're doing well."
A third fundraiser will occur just in time for Christmas, when organizers will offer up sales of Avon Products beginning Nov. 1 and lasting through Nov. 21.
"It's more than 40 percent that we would make toward it, which is really good," said Sanchez of proceeds from the Avon fundraiser.
The goal as things stand, she said, is to raise approximately $150,000 to complete the project, but some of that will likely come from in-kind donations. She's received pledges for some in-kind work already, and is hoping that more people come forward in the coming months to offer up some help.
"There is a water fountain on site and we are considering doing some form of security lighting, which they don't have right now," she said. "We're thinking we might be able to get a few light poles just to deter vandals."
Sanchez said the park already has so much going for it, and just as she and her parent friends travel around to parks in Newburyport and Kensington, N.H., she hopes parents in neighboring communities will begin spending more time at Amesbury's Town Park. She hopes they'll get involved in the process as well, by perhaps attending some of the upcoming fundraisers.
While the immediate goal is to replace the aging play structure and basketball court, there is an additional possibility the group will move on to other phases if the support is there in the community to install park benches and improve other areas of the spacious park.
"We go to Newburyport and we go to Kensington to play on their playgrounds," said Sanchez. "I'd love people to come to ours and maybe spend money on the businesses in our town."
Sanchez is still looking for help participating in fundraisers and with donations. Anyone interested in learning more about the upcoming fundraisers should e-mail townparkreno@comcast.net or go to amesburyimprovment.org/PRC.html.
