We Did It!!

Well, after a mind bending four month flurry of activity, our playground has been built. It was such an inspirational day I don't know where to begin. I spent a sleepless night taking care of last minute details and as we all do I was starting to worry whether enough people would show up for Build Day. The day dawned crisp and clear, a beautiful fall day, the trees in the park were spectacular. Tony was already busy at the park when I took a moment to look outside. I was overwhelmed at the site of a steady parade of people walking towards the park, pushing wheel barrows with rakes and shovels on their shoulders. Everyone was excited and happy despite the cold. They were eager to get to work and indeed they actually finished the job hours ahead of time. It was a tough job to keep the kids off the equipment until the actual dedication ceremony. One of the gentlemen we were honouring, Lorne Fuller , was there at the crack of dawn to help put the playground together. Why does that not surprise me?? That dedication to doing things for the kids is the reason we chose to honour Lorne in the first place. Several items were not completed as we had to locate the correct hardware and one item required more concrete poured. The rest of that week, Tony, Pete Heck and Garth McIntosh completed the work including the installation of the Super Nova that was won earlier in the summer.We were back ordered on about 6 pieces of the exercise equipment and 5 picnic tables which will be shipped in the spring along with the skate park equipment.
It has been exciting to watch how many families have been using the park, many whom I do not recall ever seeing in the park before!!
I would like to thank all of the Volunteers who helped with this phenomenal project. You guys rock!! We have met many of our neighbours whom we had no contact with before and have created many new friendship bonds. It is our sincere hope that this camaraderie will continue to bond us together as a community and that this is only the beginning of the improvements to our village.
Many thanks to all of the donors which are listed below on the website with a special thanks to the A.C.E program that started us on this journey, Let Them be Kids who has funded half of the equipment, Legacy Oil and Gas, Fortis, Suncor Energy, Sogo Active and the Lions Club who all gave substantial donations to our playground build and all of the other donors who gave to our project as well. 
We did it and Together We Can Do Anything!!!

The Equipment has Arrived!!

The equipment arrived today and was offloaded by a very capable zoom boom operator, Neil Wight. It was quite facinating  to watch the skillful manouvers used to pluck our precious cargo out of the 53 foot delivery truck. We are short a few items that were not ready at shipping time but they will come in the spring when our skatepark equipment arrives. Our construction crew will start unpacking the quipment at 8 AM tommorrow, Thursday the 13th.. If you want to help please stop by and see if Tony has enough people or if you have any of the tools on the list please bring them as well. We will also need some help setting up the two tents and tables and chairs as well later in the afternoon on Thursday. Come on out. You just might meet someone you never even knew lived in the Village! Great news too. Legacy Oil and Gas officials will be on hand Saturday to help us complete the playground as well as present us with a cheque for $25,000 for the playground. Another gentleman from Suncor(donor) will be helping with the build as well. Its great to see officials who don't mind getting their hands dirty with the rest of us!I believe ATCO Gas will be on hand as well with a cheque for the park. By the way, just wait until you see how cool the triple slide is!!!

Tools and Volunteers needed for our Playground/Fitness Park Build

Tools/Materials Required for General Installation

We are looking for the following tools as well as in kind donations for approximately 5 Cubic yards of concrete, 2x4s for cribbing, about 15 shovels and the use of a post hole digger capable of doing up to an 18" hole. We have one ticketed welder but could use the volunteer labour of one more for Thursday and Friday(Oct 13,14th). Please call Tony Geistlinger at 403-558-2158 if you can help us out. We need about 6 more helpers for the Thursday, Friday prebuild and as many as possible for Saturday, October 15th.

String Line/Marking Paint (for laying out structure)

Tape Measure - 6

Stick welder – 200 amp gas powered cables req’d) - (see photo for example)

7018 Welding rod-1/8” (2-3 boxes)

1’/2’(torpedo) & 4’ Level – 2 ea.

Impact Driver (see photo for example)- 6

Cordless Drill – 4

Drill bits – 21/64”, 5/32”, ¼”,1/8” – 2 ea.

Heavy Duty Grinder/Metal Cutting Chop Saw – 1 (with cutting discs)

Wheelbarrow - 15

Generator – 1 (unless other power source is available)

Rake - 10

Wrench/Ratchet – 3 – 4 (common sizes ¾”,1/2”,9/16”,1/4”

Torx Bits (if possible) – common sizes are

T45,T30,T55,T40, & T27
Sledge Hammer – 1

Stepladder – 4 (8’ – 10’ if possible)

Extension cord (25’ long) – 2 (use cordless when possible)

The Countdown Begins

Hey Everyone
Our Night of Foolishness was a great success. The meal was spectacular and the company even better! We were treated to some amazing local musicians who entertained us for the evening. The silent auction was packed with really unique items and the bidding was a hot competition.Our performers included "The Highwood Hillbillies" with Florence Hummel, Barb Knox and Gerald Herriman, 15 year old Tanya McLaren, 15 year old Dallas Jade, surprise guest a very much alive , geriatric Janis Joplin and her partner "Slash". John Storch, Eva Levesque and Cody Follis, Kenny Peterson and Rich Tason. What a great celebration of our wonderful local artists in conjunction with Alberta ART Days! Thanks to all who played and all who watched , enjoyed and contributed to our profits which will be applied to our Playground Building fund. We made close to $3000 profit from our "Night of Foolishness". I have to add that many have requested we do this on a regular basis just for the fun of it and the chance to laugh and have fun with our neighbours!   Great night, great food, great entertainment and great people!

October 1st Night of Foolishness Fund Raiser

Here is your chance to support our cause and have a blast! On Saturday, October 1st the Longview A R C  Society is hosting our big fund raiser for the Centennial Park upgrade with a safe modern playground, Fitness equipment for all ages and new benches, picnic tables and litter receptacles. We are hosting the fund raiser in conjunction with Alberta Arts Days. The evening will feature a scrumptious, country cooked roast beef dinner, a silent auction and entertainment from local area artists all for $20 with all profits going to the Playground/Fitness Park build. Please dust off those cheque books and come on out to help support a great cause, eat a fine meal, maybe purchase a great silent auction item and honour our local artists in their many forms. Doors open at 6 PM with dinner at 6:30 PM There will be a cash bar available.

Saje' and Jubilee are helping to Build your Playground

On the September Long Weekend Saje' and Jubilee Muraski held a community yard sale to raise money for the playground and Fitness Park Build. Saje' was so pleased with the results that she held the yard sale open all week and over the following weekend as well. Jubilee sat patiently all week, all day long selling yummy peach ice tea and raised $32.50 which will be automatically doubled by Let Them Be Kids. Saje' did so much evangelizing about the project that her visiting God Son wrote a cheque for $250 and he does not even live here!! All told over the ten day sale, including Jubilee's ice tea, Saje's God Son's donation and the yard sale profits, Saje' generated just under $800 for our playground build! That is truly amazing and heart warming. Remember that this will be doubled so now we have the purchasing power for $1600 worth of equipment. That is not all folks. I have discovered that this time next fall we can apply for the Community Spirit grant based on all individuals/private donations for 2011. It will be based on a percentage depending on how many communities apply up to a total of $25,000. What this means is that Saje' and Jubilee's $800 will receive another match as would your  personal donation. That is amazing that such an endeavour can generate so much for our park. Thank you Saje' and Jubilee. I will think of you and your dedication to our community every time I use the park. This may spark your own ideas for fund raising towards our cause. The date is coming very quickly with our build day being Saturday October 15th! Please donate now... You may drop your donation off at the Village office or give Michele and Tony a call at 403-558-2158. Wow... where else can $1 suddenly become $2  and maybe even $3(dependant on the Community Spirit grant)
Please remember we need about 200 volunteers for Build day. It is very easy to sign up and we need to hear from you now so we can make arrangements to feed all of our hard working volunteers. Just click on the sign up now button located on the top right side of this website.