Parks foundation raising money for sensory pathway at Murrysville Community Park

The Murrysville Recreation Department is seeking ways to keep the public engaged during the winter, through exercise promotional programs and other activities.

It also is making sure those efforts are inclusive, working with its nonprofit foundation on a fundraiser to create a sensory pathway along one of its park trails.

The $2,500 goal will allow recreation officials to install a Fit & Fun Playscapes Nature Motor Sensory Path, which is a group of reusable stencils that can be combined to keep children engaged and entertained during a walk along Murrysville Community Park’s paved trail.

“As we were exploring online, (recreation program coordinator) Amy Wengrzyn found that a lot of school districts and recreation centers use these stencils,” recreation Director Carly Greene said. “They’re perfect for parks.”

The stencils, developed in collaboration with educators, offer sensory, fitness and socialization opportunities through exercise activities, counting games and mimicking animal walks.

“We’d like to have it in by summer,” Greene said. The fundraiser is a collaboration with the Murrysville Parks and Recreation Foundation, a recent nonprofit created to help facilitate the type of donations that can fund “bonus” municipal projects like the pathway.

Right now, the municipality can accept online donations for the foundation, Greene said, but they want to be able to earmark donations for specific projects. From tree plantings and adoptions to personalized bench installations, the foundation has a range of ways to turn donations into park enhancements.

If the sensory trail fundraiser works out, Greene said the plan is to place it along the section of trail that wraps around the park’s lower playground.

“We’re just finding other ways to utilize our parks and keep people engaged,” she said.

For Murrysville resident and foundation board member Dave Metzgar, a 25-year resident who has served on the parks and recreation board since 2018, the town’s natural areas are a treasure.

“There are so many different parks, and I think people are drawn to them for different reasons,” said Metzgar, 55. “I live next to Townsend Park and I have a very active Weimaraner who needs at least two walks a day. … Pleasant Valley Park has a lot more mountain bike riders. Duff Park is a very well-maintained environmental area and it’s got some great old-growth areas, and (Murrysville Community Park) has a lot of great features like the Miracle Field.”

For more, see MurrysvillePArecreation.com to find the foundation’s page on the “About Us” menu.