Marines Team up With Local Organizations to Give Olde Forge Community New Playground
By: SGT. JENNIFER BROWN
From the QUANTICO SENTRY
Date published: 10/20/2007
FREDERICKSBURG, Va., Oct. 20 -- Quantico
Marines teamed up with local organizations to renovate two playground sites at Olde Forge Community in Fredericksburg Oct. 19 and 20.
The majority of the playground equipment was unusable and children living in the community had limited recreational resources.
Theresie Houghton, head of Olde Forge Junction, Inc., assessed the community as part of the non-profit organization’s outreach program to determine where they could help reinforce the community’s desire to improve its living conditions.
‘‘The Community Action Community, whose goal is to envision the future of communities here, set down to address a situation with the property owners of Old Forge Community concerning the condition of its basketball courts,” Houghton said. ‘‘While re-envisioning the basketball court area, the idea broadened to another play area within the same community that had broken swings and unusable equipment that was hazardous for children to play on.”
Olde Forge Junction, Inc., members of the Stafford and Rappahannock Rotary Clubs, Fredericksburg Area Service League, Stafford Crossing Community Church and the Community Action Committee selected what type of work needed to be done to renovate the sites.
The outcome of the survey determined they would work the project in two phases. The first phase was determined to prepare a safe play area and refurbish some of the equipment for the children to play in.
Once the dates were set, the organizations began looking for volunteers to put the plan into action. Marines immediately responded to the request and one sergeant took the lead to assess what type of work would be involved in the phase.
‘‘I met with Theresie and looked over both areas to see what the volunteers would need to do to accomplish the job,” said Sgt. Patrick Brown, a combat engineer stationed at The Basic School. ‘‘I knew it would be a lot of hard work, but I know Marines and this, to them, could be easily accomplished in two days.”
The volunteers removed unserviceable playground equipment and old fencing that was rusted and intertwined with thick vines.
The Marines cleared fallen trees and debris from the area with heavy equipment and established landscape timbers around the perimeter of the playground for new mulch they unloaded and spread throughout the play area.
Some of the volunteers re-established the lines on the basketball court with a fresh coat of paint, while others at the playground site sanded and repainted the swing set and slides, and installed the new swings.
Sgt. Duane Lee, pay staff noncommissioned officer in charge of dispersing here, brought the majority of volunteers from his section and said he wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when they first arrived.
‘‘There were a lot of things to be done, but once we got started, everything just started to flow,” he said.
Many of the children stood around watching the volunteers put in the swings, while other children joined in and helped spread mulch with rakes around the playground.
‘‘I was wondering what was happening to the playground,” said 6-year-old Dejour Johnson, an Olde Forge Community resident. ‘‘I got excited when I found out they were fixing it up. Now the playground has stuff I can play on.”
The Marines said just to see the kids happy faces made them glad they volunteered.
‘‘I felt good when the kids came out and got excited. That made us excited,” Lee said. ‘‘I think the parents will feel good they have a nice, safe playground for their children to play.”
The next phase will involve adding new basketball goals to the existing poles on the court, and installing several new pieces of equipment as selected by the community and the organizations.
By: SGT. JENNIFER BROWN
From the QUANTICO SENTRY