Hannastown kids lead way in community-funded playground improvements

Kids in Hannastown staffed a stand selling lemonade, tea and cookies this summer, and the effort has paid off with new swings, climbing apparatus and other equipment at the community playground.

Volunteers from the Hannastown Fire Department joined local families this week to help install the equipment, which was funded in large part by about $1,800 in proceeds from the refreshment sales.

“We went through a lot of lemonade and tea,” said parent Katrina Dixon, ”at least 4 or 5 gallons a day.”

Local children were the driving force behind the project — including chief organizer Lisa Buggs’ granddaughters, Ayliha Grimmitt, 11, and Alaura Grimmitt, 7.

The sisters and other young friends were discouraged by the meager offerings at the playground along Front Street and decided to do something about it. Adult family members pitched in.

“We’ve been doing the lemonade stand all summer,” said Buggs, who took the lead in obtaining paint and play equipment that will replace and augment an old swing set and dilapidated basketball hoops.

“The rims are no good and the nets are falling down, so I got two new rims and nets,” she said. Other playground equipment became run-down or was vandalized.

Buggs shopped around for bargains and found items from a variety of sources including sporting goods and home improvement stores, as well as on Amazon.

Volunteers started out by sprucing up the existing playground amenities, including two rusty metal benches, with fresh paint.

They also are putting in place a sandbox and a jungle gym that invites kids to climb. A climbing wall also is planned.

Ayliha Grimmitt is excited to see the sandbox taking shape for the children.

“They’re going to love it,” she said.

Firefighters will seal cracks in the basketball court and local Comisak’s Line Painting has offered to finish it with fresh lines.

Hempfield Township is donating picnic tables for the playground. Existing ones were damaged by vandals, Buggs said.

The Hannastown site was among neighborhood playgrounds on property not owned by Hempfield that the township had been maintaining and covering with insurance, according to Township Manager Jason Winters.

But that relationship ended about a decade ago.

“We felt is was better to give them back to the proper owners,” Winters said.

The fire department owns the property, located opposite the fire hall, and keeps the grass trimmed.

“What they’re doing is great,” Hannastown fire Chief Doug Fordyce said of the families involved in the community playground project.

Dixon’s children — Izabella Farrow, 11, and Brady Dixon, 12 — have been helping with the project.

In addition to the local children who stand to benefit right away from the new apparatus, Farrow is looking to the future interests of her 2-year-old nephew and infant niece.

“When they come over, I want them to be able to play down there and have fun, not just sit there,” she said.

Dixon noted it would be nice to install some mulch on the ground underneath and around the new play equipment.

“We need more money for a sliding board and other things,” Buggs said.

Anyone who is interested in contributing to the project can contact Buggs by emailing lcurry1126@gmail.com.

“I think it’s really important that the kids can be outside, not watching TV or on the phone all the time,” Buggs said.