Any cynic would have called it a doomed civics lesson: In April 2010, the fifth-graders in Bob Hansler’s class at Kapowsin Elementary School announced their determination to build a playground at Frontier Park.
The old wooden one had rotted into the danger zone when Pierce County Parks & Recreation dismantled it in early 2009.
The kids were stunned, then sad, then resolute.
They planned bake sales and car washes, and called Pierce County Parks & Recreation Director Kathy Kravit-Smith. A new playground, she told them, would cost about $200,000, and the county was cutting parks programs and projects, not adding new ones.
The air went out of the classroom.
Then Sara Lamrouex blew in.
She was studying business at Pierce College. She and her husband, Samuel, were separated, and their daughters lived with her in Graham. Alexis, who is now 11 and in seventh grade at Frontier Junior High School, was in Hansler’s fifth-grade class at the time. Justine is 8.
They would raise the money, Sara determined, and she gathered a team to set about it.
They built a Facebook page, Big Toy Team, to keep supporters apprised of progress and every chance to give.
Students, parents and grandparents, business owners and politicians collaborated on fundraisers.
Team members held a spaghetti feed and auction. They spent the end of June 2010 camped in a Fife parking lot selling fireworks. They sold T-shirts and recruited people for dunk tank duty at fairs. They hand-crafted and sold wooden benches and crystal jewelry. They had breakfasts and lunches and a car show.
Randy Johnson allowed them to use his Apple Physical Therapy Foundation as their legal nonprofit home. “That was huge,” Sara said.
Meanwhile, parks officials looked for other funding. Because of Big Toy Team’s efforts, they went for a state grant of $126,000.
“It was hanging in the balance,” Janel Krilich, a county parks superintendent, said of the grant.
They had a finished design, were replacing a playground that had lasted for 30 years, had community involvement and matching funds.
It was just enough.
“We made the cut-off,” Krilich said.
They did some cutting, too.
The kids wanted a stagecoach to give their playground a frontier theme.
Maybe later.
Unhitching the stagecoach brought the project in for $182,292. That’s $96,000 for the equipment and $86,292 to install it.
With the $126,000 grant and $10,000 from the Big Toy Team, the parks department had $46,292 to make up. It managed that by transferring funds from other projects that were not ready to go.
The new playground will be the county’s first with a poured-in-place surface made of recycled rubber to improve access for people with disabilities. But there’s a hitch.
“It requires the temperature to be above 40 degrees for 72 hours to set up and cure properly,” Krilich said.
It may be too late in the year for that much warmth for that long. If it is, the surface will be poured and the playground installed in the spring.
“The kids are all excited,” Sara said. “Mr. Hansler is just ecstatic.”
She is just relieved.
The kids earned a playground, and there have been unintended benefits.
Samuel Lamrouex got involved because of Alexis and Justine, then fell in love all over again with his wife. They are a family again.
At Christmas, Justine, who had become so used to working for the benefit of other kids, asked to give her life savings, $800, to a family that would have no Christmas. That gift turned into what Sara calls a magical Christmas for all the families involved.
But Big Toy Team members, including Saylor Bennett, Melinda Graves, Dee Robison, Cathie Craig and Josefine Lamrouex, have been tired beyond tired. They have been let down and rejected.
Sara has gotten ill, had two back surgeries, graduated from college, volunteered on other projects, but has not found a paying job. Samuel has been laid off work.
“There were days I didn’t want to get up because it hurt so bad,” she said. “But I got up.”
That, for any cynic reading this, is the difference between a dream and a civics lesson: You get up.
Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677
kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/street
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.