by Missy Benson

Mathews County is located in southeastern Virginia. It is the second smallest county in the state with approximately 8,800 residents and has more than 200 miles of shoreline. Last year, Jan Towne, a resident of the area, began to fulfill a great need in the community-- erecting the county's first playground.

As a mother of two, Towne knew that the 1,000 children of Mathews County between the ages of two and twelve did not have a place to play. Towne formed an eight- member committee to research what children liked to play on by visiting other playgrounds in the state. The committee began plans for the playground by consulting John Christopher, the Director of Parks and Recreation for Mathews County. Mr. Christopher informed the committee that the county had long-range plans to put a playground in the park, but there was no timetable as to when this project would be started. The county then said that the committee could build their proposed playground on the land, but the county did not have the funds to help with the project.

Mrs. Towne was not discouraged. The committee contacted me, the local representative for the Kompan group of playground companies (including BigToys and 10 Plus) and selected two playgrounds from the BigToys catalog to meet the needs of pre-school and school-age children. The playgrounds chosen consist primarily of wood, without nails or screws.

The next step was to establish a budget for fundraising, of which $30,000 was decided upon as a goal, and to complete the supervision outline for what would be a community installation. BigToys' design department then approved the playground plan. Being a former practicing Landscape Architect, I created plans of the park site, taking note of drainage, sun/wind exposure, and locating existing trees, utilities, parking, paths, shelters, and proposed playgrounds on the site. In deciding how to position the equipment on the site, we examined the following: areas of active or passive play; movement on the equipment; points of entry and exit; and location of transfer stations for children with limited abilities. These transfer stations are positioned close to the accessible route from the parking lot. In addition, we took advantage of existing shade trees and suggested other vegetation that can provide a sense of enclosure for children, while at the same time keeping the equipment visible for safety and security reasons.

With the committee collecting $37,000 through fundraising efforts, exceeding their goal, the first phase of the playground was built by the community on August 20, 1994, with supervision by KBTNE (Kompan/BigToys Northeast, Inc.). On the morning of installation, all of the playground equipment was delivered to the site, with factory-trained installers laying it out. Thirty volunteers from the community were instructed by the supervisors, and the Port Fun Playground was built by mid-afternoon with a champagne celebration.

This first phase of Port Fun was designed for pre-schoolers and is currently busy with children daily. The second phase will include school-age BigToys equipment and will be another community-supervised installation. With more fundraising dollars coming in, this fine example of community will achieve its goal. LASN