The age-old saying, 'many hands make the work light' is thought to have come from medieval England. Perhaps while they were building a castle, or digging a moat, this catchy but meaningful phrase came to be.
But for the Boissevain School Playground Committee, the saying, 'How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!' might be more fitting.
The two sayings go hand in hand when describing the community of Boissevain coming together to install the first phase of the playground project two weeks ago.
"We're almost finished phase one of the playground project," share committee co-chair, Susan Jackson. "We completed or almost completed the Middle Years playground. We have a few things left to do on there, such as landscaping but it is safe for the kids to play on and we're already seeing lots of visitors. It's really exciting and fun to see!"
After a year and half of focused fundraising and writing countless grant applications, Jackson says it's almost surreal to see the playground complete and being enjoyed by families.
"I don't know, it's really hard to describe how I feel about it. I've driven by a few times and it's just so nice to see everyone using it. And the view of the playground from the Boissevain Aquatic Centre it's really quite something to see. It's just so grand, sitting there beside the school. We're really, really proud of the work we've done and how it's all turned out," she adds.
It took a small army to install the playground, with all its features and additions.
"We had some fantastic help that week! We had a really great core group of workers including Heather's and my husband, Dennis Dueck and Mitch Janssens and then we also had Mike McCallum and Gord Turner, and they were really critical in making it all come together. They were there every day. It was long days. They worked so hard.
"And then we had some really skilled help come join us during the week. We had some tradespeople and their teams and farmers, and the municipality also came out with a large group of workers and also our Ukrainian community! It was a huge number of people who came out from our local Ukraine community, and it was just really fantastic to see."
Not only did the help come through the use of a power drill or raking the ground cover, but the local restaurants got involved as well, keeping the volunteers well-fed and hydrated.
"So, we're so grateful for everyone's support," says Jackson. "The build was a little tougher than we anticipated, and they all just worked so hard and we're just so grateful for all their help on that. The support was just incredible!"
While the team was installing the playground they received word that they landed a $17,000 grant through Red River Mutual Insurance's Spruce up your Story grant program.
The committee put together a video in the application that was supported by Chad Reimer of Southwest Agencies. Jackson says there were a number of people who participated in the video. The video then went through a review process through Red River Mutual."
"Yes, so exciting! So many things happening all at once! We will be putting that $17,000 towards the middle years playground and then that will free up some of our other fundraise dollars towards phase two," she shares. "So yeah, we are beyond ecstatic about that. That's a huge amount of money to have received."
Phase two of the playground project is focused on the high school students, but that is still in the planning and designing stage. Currently, that space has an old asphalt surface that isn't used very often. Ideally the committee wants to create an area where these students can hang out but also stay active. So, fundraising continues as they consult different groups and brainstorm on the best use of that space. Stay tuned!
(photo credit Boissevain School Playground Committee)
