Volunteers put together play unit;Â Cement, pea rock, wood chips to follow
Work to construct the new playground unit for Mountain Lake Public Elementary School (MLES) was held Sunday afternoon, August 30.
Monies for playground improvements, including the new play set, were raised by the MLES Student Council to the tune of $17,000 accrued from fundraising projects, including Butterbraid sales, Box Top clippings and recycling ink cartridges; through a $20,000 Remick Foundation Grant and up to $5,000 in school district funds. The additional funding burst from district funds – the school board’s contribution – made the play center possible this year.
The area was cleared, and the footings dug on Tuesday, August 25 by Mountain Lake Public School Board Tom Fast, with the concrete set to be poured on Tuesday, September 1), now that the unit has been assembled in the middle of the playground’s grassy area. Volunteers are needed for this mission as well. Contact Elementary Principal Karl Wassman for more information.
Then it will be time for a layer of pea rock, followed by specially-designed square wood chips; chips recommended by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) that will compress and provide a smoother surface to allow for access to the unit by students with disabilities. Mountain Lake Area FFA Chapter members, along with volunteers, will assist in hauling and leveling the wood chips. Bargen, Inc. of Mountain Lake will provide wheelbarrows for the wood chip distribution.
Volunteers working to set the playground unit Sunday afternoon, led by Principal Wassman, included Tom Fast, Joey Morey, Matt Gohr, Stacy Ott, Chad Sonnabend, Garret Wall, Norm Kunkel, Matt James, Jesse Fast, Rick Herrig, Dusty Pfeiffer, Jordan Brugman, Tim Swoboda, Kay Swoboda, Caden Swoboda, Dennis Stade, Travis Smith, Jason Sumner, Ron Nickel, Annette Kunkel and Amy Hartzler. Organizing and serving lunch to the willing workers was Alisa Nickel.
Co-Advisors for the MLES Student Council, Annette Kunkel and Amy Hartzler, will be planning an official ribbon-cutting event in the near future, including the placement of a time capsule.
The playground unit was purchased from GameTime, a “green” company. GameTime plots out four pathways to enriching childhood through play – from research, to design, to how they are manufactured to a vision of society made better by the power of play.
All of their reearch, engineering and product development are focused on developing the body, mind and imagination of every child.
Every slide, stair, ladder and swing is designed to meet the specific of the site where it will be installed, and the people who will play there.
Their playgrounds are built for fun, inclusiveness, and to help build great, active communities.
Other playground updates include the replacement of the tar on the north and south sides of the playground flat surface with concrete and a concrete basketball court with one 10-foot hoop. Concrete work was completed by Herrig’s Construction of Mountain Lake. The Mountain Lake Area Foundation donated the brand-new basketball hoop and backboard towards this project.
The MLES Playground Committee took the initiative on the project, working with Mountain Lake Public High School ag instructor and FFA advisor, Lindsay Brown, and the FFA Ag Communications CDE (Career Development Event) team of students Carly Fast, Alexa Heffele, Alexis Jellema-Baerg, Taylor Kass and Chuntana Sayavong to promote and plan the playground improvements.
Around 250 children use the playground throughout each school day – with safety a top priority – along with fun.
Below are photos from the building of the playground unit, along with the basketball hoop playground improvement:
ALL WRAPPED UP – with one exact place to go.
THE LOCATION CLEARED off – and footing holes dug – await the building action. Mountain Lake Public School Board Member Tom Fast, did the site duties.
THE FOOTING HOLES are set.
BEFORE CONSTRUCTION BEGAN on Sunday afternoon, Mountain Lake Elementary School Student Council Co-Advisors Annette Kunkel and Amy Hartzler, along with Mountain Lake Public Elementary School Principal Karl Wassman and Norm Kunkel, uncrated the parts of the play unit and spread them out across the playground.
THEY ALSO SPREAD out the hardware and instructions necessary for each section of the play set.
THE MAJOR SCHEMATIC diagram for the construction of the playground unit – looking west.
THE BEGINNING – poles for the playset landings are placed in their appropriate footings. Doing the honors, from left, Chad Sonnabend, Dennis Stade, Norm Kunkel, Karl Wassman and Stacy Ott.
THIS BRAIN TRUST aligns one of the two landings of the unit. From left, Stacy Ott, Garret Wall, Dennis Stade and Mountain Lake Public School Board Member Matt Gohr.
THEN IT IS time to set the landing in the center of its poles. From left, Stacy Ott, Matt Gohr, Karl Wassman, Matt James, Jesse Fast, Dennis Stade and Garret Wall.
THE LOCATION OF the second landing is plotted (and platted). From left, Dennis Stade, Karl Wassman, Jesse Fast, Joey Morey, Dennis Stade, Tom Fast, Stacy Ott, Garret Wall, Jordan Brugman and Matt Gohr.
CRYSTAL FAST, MOUNTAIN Lake Public Elementary School special education teacher, tightens one of the bolts on the unit’s tunnel.
NO, THE FIRST to try out the tunnel of the unit was not Dusty Pfeiffer (in tunnel) – that was Garret Wall! Pfeiffer was using his back and arms to push out the tunnel’s entrance to make it easy for, from left, Jordan Brugman, Norm Kunkel and Dennis Stade, to tighten the bolts.
AND VOILA! THE tunnel is lifted into place between the pair of landings. At top, Matt James tightens the hardware. Below, holding the piece in place are, identifiable from left, Jordan Brugman, Joey Morey, Dennis Stade, Dusty Pfeiffer and Norm Kunkel.
DENNIS STADE, LEFT and Jordan Brugman, right, bring over one of the set’s three slide pieces.
CONNECTING THAT SLIDE into its rightful place. At top, Joey Morey, left and Garret Wall, right. Below, from left, Mountain Lake Public School Board Vice-Chair Tim Swoboda, Norm Kunkel, Dennis Stade, Jordan Brugman, Karl Wassman and Jesse Fast.
SCHEMATICS ARE ESSENTIAL to putting play unit pieces together correctly. Above, Karl Wassman, left, checks the diagram, while Stacy Ott, center and Chad Sonanbend, right, do the honors.
MOUNTAIN LAKE PUBLIC School Board members, from left, Tom Fast, Tim Swoboda and Matt Gohr, tote the set’s steps to their spot.
BUILDING ARM MUSCLES – one ring at a time. Above, Garret Wall, left and Jesse Fast, right, fasten the hardware. Below, Dusty Pfeiffer supports the piece.
ADJACENT TO THE rings is the chain ladder.
JOEY MOREY, LEFT and Tom Fast, right, sort out the nuts and bolts needed to attach this curving ladder to the main structure.
INSIDE THE FOOTINGS and how the equipment is placed.
WORKING ON THIS set of steps are Chad Sonnabend, left and Stacy Ott, right.
ONCE EACH STEP is attached, the piece is connected to the main unit. At top is Dusty Pfeiffer, while below, holding the piece in place, are Ron Nickel, left and Dennis Stade, right.
TOM FAST, LEFT and Rick Herrig, right, scan the schematics on how this climbing piece is attached – and check out the hardware provided to complete the task.
A DIFFICULT TASK to put together is this curving slide. Taking on the challenge are, from left, Chad Sonnabend, Stacy Ott, Travis Smith and Ron Nickel.
SUCCESS WAS IMMINENT – and the slide is placed on the unit. At left is Ron Nickel, with Matt James in the center, and Dennis Stade at right.
CONNECTING THIS PART of the playground set are, from left, Matt Gohr, Dennis Stade, Karl Wassman, Jordan Brugman and Dusty Pfeiffer.
MOUNTAIN LAKE ELEMENTARY Student Council Co-Advisor Annette Kunkel ceremoniously tightens one of the screws on the play unit.
AND THIS PIECE – another climbing challenge – is attached by, from left, Karl Wassman, Jason Sumner and Norm Kunkel.
THE UNIT EVEN has a set of bongo drums – Matt Gohr fastening them to the pole.
A DOUBLE SLIDE is the third slide piece placed. Assisting are, at top, Garret Wall and below, from left, Norm Kunkel, Jesse Fast and Tim Swoboda.
THE PLAY SET also features a challenging climbing wall, being set into place by Matt James, left and Ron Nickel, center, with Jason Sumner, right, set to lend a hand.
ON THE BACK of the “rock wall” can be found some curious visitors, including this ant . . .
. . . AS WELL AS this duo of salamanders, along with other interesting insect or amphibian finds.
A WIDE LOOK at the unit (looking northwest) nearing completion.
AND FROM THE opposite side – looking southeast.
MOUNTAIN LAKE ELEMENTARY Student Council Co-Advisors Annette Kunkel, left and Amy Hartzler, right, dismantle the playground equipment’s storage pallet so that it can be cleaned up and hauled away.
ASSISTING THE TEARDOWN is Caden Swoboda, sixth-grader and member of the Mountain Lake Elementary School Student Council.
MOUNTAIN LAKE PUBLIC School’s District Secretary Alisa Nickel, second from left, organized and prepared a lunch for the volunteers. Also providing a pan of bars to be enjoyed by the workers were Matt and Kay Gohr. Helping her serve the lunch are, Kay Swboda, left, Annette Kunkel, right and Crystal Fast, second from right.
SEPARATE FROM THE play unit is this new basketball hoop and backboard on a court of cement, courtesy of the Mountain Lake Area Foundation.
