The Playground is Here, THANK YOU!!

What an amazing experience! The energy, and community feeling was indescribable. You have all made the Kool Mom's so proud to be part of this incredible project, and there is no way we could have done it with out support of all of the donors, and everyone that come out to help!

Here are a few images from the day. There will be more posted tomorrow, including the group photos. If you are interested in having copies of the photos taken from the day please email me at triciamoskal@shaw.ca

Below is the list of tools we will need for the work on the playground. Please bring along anything you can on the list. Each item will be labelled to ensure everything is returned at the end of the day. Please see the previous post more details.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE LARGER VERSION.

Build Project Schedule Plan

Build Project Schedule Plan

Here is the general outline for the day of the build. If you have any questions please email Shana O’Connor at lovesthelake@shaw.ca.

We look forward to seeing you at the site. Please remember to register at our website www.leduc.ltbk.ca

 

 

7:00 a.m. Set up Volunteers needed for table placement, chairs and tent set up, food set up

 

7:30 a.m.  Coffee and Muffins available for morning volunteers

 

8:00 a.m. Build Day Begins. Reminder to all volunteers to please bring your waivers(unsigned) and to check in at the pre registration table. If you have not registered on the site yet- you can do so at www.leduc.ltbk.ca

There will be a registration table at the site.

 

9:00 a.m. Children’s Activities need to be set up. If you have volunteered to be part of the Kool Kids Fun Zone please be sure you are here for this time.

 

10:00 a.m. Children’s activities are now open.

 

11:30 a.m. Lunch begins for volunteers and children.

 

1:00 a.m. Lunch is over.

 

2:00 p.m. Opening Ceremonies, Dedication and Ribbon Cutting is set to begin.

 

We hope to see you there! Thank you again for your support, your participation and the opportunity to help create a better place for our children, families, friends and community.

Honoring Contstable Jose Agostinho

Constable Jose Agostinho

We want the naming of our new park space in the Southfork community to tribute those who have made priceless contributions toward the betterment of our society. We have decided as a group that we would like to have our park named after Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer Constable Jose Agostinho.

Constable Agostinho, who was killed in the line of duty on July 4, 2005 near Leduc, Alberta , was investigating a motor vehicle accident when a 5-ton transport truck rammed into his patrol car parked on the side of the busy highway. Another officer in a separate cruiser was treated for non-life threatening injuries. 

Aged 45, Cst. Agostinho had served in the RCMP for nine years, seven in the Cold Lake Detachment before he was posted to the Wetaskiwin detachment.  A very dedicated family man, Agostinho was a community leader in Scouts and Air Cadets, and also taught the DARE program to legions of pre-teens in local schools. He was also the Commanding Officer of 831 Leduc Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron. Previously, he served in the Canadian military as an air force pilot flying search and rescue missions. He was survived by his wife Cheryl and their children Stephanie and James. A regimental funeral was held on July 8, 2005 at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Leduc, AB.

Here is the article from the Leduc Rep:

The park the Southfork Moms are building at the corner of Southwick Street and Southwick Way on June 6 now has a name: Constable Jose Agostinho Park.

The Southfork Moms had been chosen as a recipient of a $5,000 grant from Let Them Be Kids (LTBK) and Kool-Aid to build their park.

They have been fundraising for the past two and a half months, operating a concession and a silent auction at the ROMPS sale, working two Royal Purple Bingos and as part of the Black Gold Rodeo Parade.

They have received funding from the Police and Peace memorial Ribbon Society, Walton developments, Kool-Aid and Kraft Canada, City of Leduc and Tamani communities.

When community groups get funds for their project from LTBK, it is under the condition the parks be named after a fallen soldier or police officer.

So far, the Southfork Moms have raised $63,000.

“This has been vetted with RCMP K Division and Ottawa,” said director of Community development and Service Planning, Darrell Melvie.

He said the family of Agostinho is also aware of the park naming.

Const. Agostinho was an RCMP officer posted in Wetaskiwin.

He was killed in the line of duty when a five-ton transport truck rammed into his patrol car parked on Hwy. 2 on July 4, 2005.

Signage for the park will be ordered.

The building of Constable Jose Agostinho Park will take place June 6 from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The build day will be simulcast on the Internet along with the other four LTBK parks being built across Canada.

The build day will include a barbeque, children’s crafts and games, landscaping enhancements and the construction of a day lily bed.

Article ID# 1568825

Bottle Drive Results

I am sure we kept the bottle depot busy of a little while. You helped us raise $901.25!

The Bottle Drive Was A Huge Success!

I spent the duration of the bottle drive scooting in and out of Southfork on a variety of family errands. I watched the bottle bin start completely empty. Each time I drove in and out of Southfork I was amazed at how quickly the bags of donated bottles piled up! 

Thank You to everyone that was able to come out and donate their bottles. We are hoping to get them to the depot in the next few days, I'll post an update and let you know the total! 

The continued support of all the volunteers and steady stream of people/businesses getting involved in this project is incredible. We appreciate everyone who has taken the time to learn about the project. Our goal is to promote a sense of community and get to know the people in our neighborhood, we are seeing this become a reality as this project moves forward.  Only 26 days left!

Let's Get To The Fun Stuff - Please Pre-Register

Thanks to volunteers a few days prior we will have the skeleton of the prep work complete so we can build our playground June 6th.  We can have the kids playing on it in the afternoon!

If you would like to help out on the day of, please, please, please pre-register on this website. We are hoping to have we well organized list of volunteers pre registered so we can get to the building, and our kids can get to playing! Not to mention us Kool Moms wouldn't mind trying our some of this stuff too, hope you'll join us.

Thank you to those that have already registered, if you haven't go ahead do it now. Then join Us June 6th for the playground build, plus some fun activities. Come join us for the  Exotic Petting Zoo, Candy Floss, Popcorn, we will even BBQ for you. 

Leduc Representative

Check out this weeks Leduc Representative for a new article on the project:

Here is the article quoted from the Leduc Rep:

It’s almost time for Leduc to come out and play in Southfork.

With less than a month to go until the June 6 build date, the Southfork Moms are just $11,000 away from reaching their goal of $75,000 for the construction of a playground in the Southfork neighbourhood.

Southfork mom Shana O’Connor said in the 14 weeks since the group found out Leduc had been chosen as a recipient of a $5,000 grant from Let Them Be Kids and Kool-Aid to build their park, they have raised $64,000.

“Our community has really stepped up to the plate,” O’Connor said. “It’s awesome.”

All of the site preparation labour for the park has been donated as well, and will be completed the week before the build.

Right now, the Southfork Moms are getting ready for a last fundraising push and looking for more volunteers to help with a variety of activities on the day of the build.

O’Connor said so far 33 people have signed up to help, but the group is hoping to recruit 200 or more people and are encouraging volunteers to sign up through their website beforehand.

“I don’t think we would turn anybody away (on the day) — the more the merrier. But we’re really trying to push people to register through the website,” O’Connor said. “It really enables us to keep it organized … (and) keep chaos to a minimum.”

The group has also organized a fundraising bottle drop for this weekend. A bin will be set up at the entrance to the community, located on Highway 2A just past Bella Coola Drive, where people can drop off their recyclable bottles and cans.

O’Connor said the playground project is not just about providing the kids who live in Southfork with a safe and fun place to play — it’s about building community.

“I think a lot of people moved to Leduc because it’s a city with a small-town feel,” she said, adding people want to be able to meet their neighbours, but the space provided in the Southfork subdivision wasn’t really engaging for that purpose.

’Connor hopes the playground will give all the residents — and others who live in the city — some common ground.

“It will really bring the community out more and people will get to know each other better,” she said. “We want all to feel welcome to come here.”

To make a donation to the project or sign up to volunteer for the build, visit the Southfork Moms website atwww.leducletthembekids.blogspot.com.

Article ID# 1557950

My Sister's Kitchen Fundraiser

At My Sister's Kitchen, we strive for a way to help you make your life easier. We look forward to helping you eat healthier, be happier, and have fun! As a family run business, we understand the meaning of precious time. We want to help you spend more time with your loved ones, and make sure that everyone is eating healthier for a better lifestyle.

Being able to make your meals in a limited amount of time, has never been easier! Pick out your menu of 6 or 12 meal selections, make your reservation, and join us. We do all the hard work, all you have to do is bring yourself, a cooler, and possible someone to enjoy the fun with! 

Join Genessa and Amy-Lynn in their kitchen, as they help you make your life easier!

This is a fundraiser for our Southfork Park Project! It lots of fun and you end up with great ready to go meals.

Sessions and meal selections can be made on the My Sisters Kitchen website. Session times are 5:30pm and 7:00pm. 

Please let them know you are booking as part of the Southfork Park Project Fundraiser! THANKS!!

Date:	Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Time:	5:30pm - 8:30pm
Location:	My Sister's Kitchen
Street:	113, 5103 50 Avenue
City/Town:	Leduc, AB
	View Map

Phone:	7809862335
Email:	mysisterskitchen@mysisterskitchen.ca

You can RSVP through our facebook event page here

Kool Mom's Bottle Drive for Playground May 8-9th

We want your bottles!!

May 8th and 9th, we will stationed at the entrance of Southfork (HWY 2A & 50th St) waiting for all those bottles that have been collecting dust in basements and garages over the winter. 

Southfork Residents have received letters in their mailboxes about donations. We will be coming around in the next few days to pick up donations, if you wish to drop off your donation you may also do so at the Bottle Drop.

Leduc 40th Rodeo Parade

Saturday May 2nd our group walked in the Leduc's 40th Rodeo Parade to gain awareness and support for our playground. Many people were supportive with waves, hoots and cheering, we assume *nudge, nudge* that those that were cheering us on have already registered through this site to help us on build day. :)

Our kids found it very exciting to be part of the parade experience and grinned ear to ear as they handed out the Kool Aid packs, Water Bottles and T-Shirts to other kids and families calling them over. We really look forward to seeing the size of those smiles on build day when they see the playground that was built with so much support and hard work.

What's in A Name....

As you may have heard from previous posts, radio ads, or newspaper articles, the Southfork Playground is going to be named after a fallen hero. 

Our playground will be a fun, safe and inviting place for children, families and neighbors while keeping memories alive and promoting community pride.

We have chosen to honor someone who represents what we are trying to build. Keep posted to become part of the park naming celebration. In the meantime we would like to say Thank You for the support and generous donation from Police & Peace Memorial Ribbon Society.

We hope you will register to help show your community pride on June 6th and be part of something great!

Get Inspired To Join Us.....

Leduc Radio

Listen to Kathy's interview with Leduc Radio for our project details. This will tell you how this group was formed, what our goals are, and what your donation provides!

You can read about it in this weeks issue of Talk Time in available in some Leduc business. There is also an article in the upcoming Pipestone Flyer. With the Leduc Rodeo just around the corner you can bet we will be in the parade May 2nd, 11am.

A Great Week For Donations!!

We have had great response from our community is raising money for a new playground! We just updated our fundraising thermometer. 

It is AMAZING to see the totals go up! We have raised $50,000 worth of site preparations from companies such as Quick Cat Grading, 390 Construction, Dutch-Haaven Industries & Landesign Ltd, 

A total of $14,325 in cash donations from companies such as 49 North Lubricants, Pizza 73, Budget Blinds, and many personal donations.

Kennelli Springs Limited has donated water for the day of the build, was well as the days prior for the crews doing site preparation.

Tamarijn Exotics has donated Reptile/Insect display & Show for entertainment on the playground build day. They will be present from 10:00Am until 3:30Pm with an assortment of reptiles that kids & parents can handle, as well as some insects & spiders that are for display only [not fit for handling]. They will also have some display boxes of native insects, Authentic shed snake skin that people can touch and a few insects in resin that can also be handled   

Leduc Baby Sale

The Southfork Park Project members made an appearance at the Leduc Baby Sale hosted by R.O.M.P.S at the Leduc High School this past Saturday! R.O.M.P.S hosted the Baby Sale to raise funding for their renovations. The Baby Sale hit record attendance with over 700 visitors and 80 vendors attending the event.
Dubbed the "Kool Mom's" from The playground project we added a concession and silent auction to the event to raise money for our playground! Tim Horton's Coffee, Hot Dogs, Chips & Pop were bought up by the many many many people arriving shortly before the doors opened for the event. Our concession sold out of hotdogs shortly before noon! The silent auction had about twenty items donated to be auctioned and the proceeds going directly to the park fund. The Silent Auction & Concession added $1375 to our fund!!
A big THANK YOU goes out to everyone that donated Silent Auction Items, purchased from the concession, and to ROMPS for helping us fundraise along side them!

Playground Design

Here are photos of the playground that was developed based on the results of the kids votes in the Dotmocracy event at Notre Dame, Caledonia & Corinthia Park.

You can market your business and help us build a playground!

This is a terrific opportunity and an amazing community building project, but it won’t be possible without help from people and businesses in the community.

We need to raise $25, 000 for this project. We are asking for your assistance and would like to recognize your contribution by offering the incentives listed below.

Triple Slide Level 1 - Cash Donation of $2000:
- Space provided to display your company’s banner on the day of the build
- Your logo in all of our media ads, on our build day t-shirts and on our website
- A framed thank you picture

Rock Challenge Wall Level 2- Cash Donation of $1000:
- Your logo in all of our media ads, on our build day t-shirts and on our website
- A framed thank you picture
Pommel Wall Level 3- Cash Donation of $500:
- Your logo on our build day t-shirts and on our website
- A thank you picture

Monkey Bars Level 4- Cash Donation of $100:
- Your logo on our website
- A thank you picture

If you are not able to do one of the above, please consider sending a team of volunteers to help on the day of the build.

If you would like more information, please call 780-980-3090 or go on our website, www.leduc.letthembekids.ca

Thank you for your time. We will follow up with you in a couple of days!

Sincerely,
The Moms of the Southfork Park Project

Letter To Southfork Residents.

Dear Families of Southfork:

We have some exciting news to share with you! As you may have heard, Southfork has been chosen as the FIRST recipient of the Let Them Be Kids/Kool-Aid Smile award that will help us to put a playground in our community. The award includes a seed grant of $5000 and a 60/40 match opportunity for the rest of our fundraising.
Our goal is to have active participation in the community that develops pride and ownership, an opportunity for all members of the community to connect through outdoor recreational activities that helps to build social relationships, and of course, FUN! The park design has been chosen by kids in our community and will be built by volunteers on JUNE 6th, 2009. Once completed, the park will be dedicated to a fallen hero from our community.
This is a terrific opportunity and an amazing community building project, but it won’t be possible without help from people and businesses in the community.

We need to raise at least $25, 000 for this project and we would like you to choose one of the following ways that you can help:

_____ Please find attached my contribution of $100 (if everyone in Southfork did this, we would easily achieve our goal!).

______Please find attached my contribution of $_________.

_____ Yes, I can come out and help on June 6th, 2009 to build our children a playground(end of Southwick Way).

_____ Yes, I would be interested in helping the organization of the build day.

Name:__________________ Phone: _______________ Email Address:______________

For more information, please checkout our website www.leduc.letthembekids.ca or call 780-980-3090. Thank you for your help!

Dotmocracy - Letting the Kids Choose.

Yesterday we went to the kids to find out what type of playground they would pick!

With a program called Dotmocracy, some grade 4 & 5 students of Corinthia, Caledonia & Notre Dame Schools in Leduc were able to VOTE for playground items they would love at a playground.

Needless to say, we are very excited to see what the playground developers put together for us with these results......

Slides
1. Triple Wide Slide= 98 votes
2. Stargate Curved= 8 votes
3. spiral= 3 votes
4. Double Wide and Wave Slide= 1vote

Accessible Components and Bridges
1. Pommel Wall= 40 votes
2. Overhead Wheel Bridge= 34 votes
3. Lazy Loop Bridge= 17 votes
4. Floating Pod Bridge= 10 votes
5. Steel Spider Wall = 8 votes
6. Chain Net Wall and Overhead Wheel = 6 votes
7. Arch Bridge, Wave Climber, Inclined Arch Bridge, Arch Bridge= 1vote each

Overhead Events
1. 270° Horizontal Ladder= 46 votes
2. Track Ride= 32 votes
3. Dual Ring Trek=14 votes
4. Zig Zag Ring= 8 votes
5. Horizontal Ladder= 4 votes
6. Swing Ring Trek= 3 votes
7. Ring Trek= 0 votes
8.

Activity Panels
1. Door Panel and Chime Panel= 27 votes each
2. Finger Maze= 16 votes
3. Gear Panel= 11 votes
4. Steel Seat Panel= 10 votes
5. Race Car Panel= 6 votes
6. Store front= 4 votes
7. Tic Tac Toe, Animal Crawl Thru, Happy Landings and Vertical Rung = 1 vote each

Ground To Deck Events
1. Rock Challenger=53 votes
2. Stepping Pods= 19 votes
3. Pommel Wall= 10 votes
4. Fire Pole= 6 votes
5. Rappel Wall= 5 votes
6. Fred Rock= 4 votes
7. Spiral Clover, Inverted Arch, Stairs, Crazy 8= 2 votes each
8. Chain Net and Loop Climber = 1 vote each

Once the Southfork Playground was formed, we approached the City Of Leduc. Doing some research we applied for an award from Let Them Be Kids (LTBK) & Kool-Aid. Three weeks ago we found out we were the first recipient!! 

LTBK with Kool-Aid gave $5000 cash towards equipment cost as seed money. We also receive a 60/40 split. 60% is the community, and LTBK & Kool-Aid cover 40% of the equipment cost. The Southfork Playground Committee needs to raise $20,000 by May 1st! If you would like to join our efforts, or donate please click on the Join The Effort button.

Read about us in this week's Leduc Representative

 

Click this link to head to the Let Them Be Kids website to see more about our project, and the four other communities able to build playgrounds on June 6th! On a side note they are helping 13 other communities build their parks in September!!

Southfork Playground Development

The Southfork Playground Committee is made up of nine Moms. We have all moved into the a very new Leduc subdivision, Southfork. We would love to have a playground for our children, but it is about more than a playground.....

Beyond the playground we are creating the opportunity for Southfork and all Leduc communities to have a sense of pride and ownership by having the community members involved in the plan

ning, financing, and construction of the playground project. 

During this process we want to bring together current family, neighbors, friends, friends we have not yet met, and futu

re families who move into the area. We are working hard to be a neighborhood 

were everyone is active

ly participating in creating a caring, safe, vibrant, welcoming community 

where people know one another.

Kathy, Vicky, Cahtie, Bonnie, Shannon, Tricia, Sarah, Janis & Shana have joined together to create the Southfork Playground committee.