THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 7, 1995 TAG: 9504050188
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSAN W. SMITH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
``Volunteers and funds are continuing to come forward,'' reported Mary C. Haddad, general coordinator of the giant Fun Forest playground to be constructed at City Park this spring. ``But we are still anxiously recruiting both workers and money.''
Fun Forest is the 3-acre state-of-the-art playground to be built completely by volunteers and donated funds.
But organizers are still $30,000 short of the $200,000 needed to build the park, Haddad said.
``It's not an insurmountable amount, but if any family or business is thinking about helping out, now is the time,'' said Haddad. ``We don't want to start having to think about trimming back on any area of the park.''
Money has come in designated for some park features. TCI, The Family Channel and Central Fidelity Bank have adopted the central pavilion. The Blue Knights, a police motorcycle club, gave $750 for a castle tower, and the Georgetown Civic League paid for the children's Tic-Tac-Toe with a $500 donation.
Haddad said a $5,000 donation is still needed for the nature walk trail and the story circle. For $100 a family or business can memorialize a section of fence, and a gift of $500 will give a trampoline bridge, a dolphin tunnel slide or fire pole.
Recent gifts have included $1,000 from International Family Entertainment, $750 from the Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel and $500 from Great Bridge Child Care Center.
One of the most popular fund-raisers has been the sale of tiles decorated with hand-prints, which will be used to create the Helping Hand Wall. The $25 tiles, personalized with a name and handprint, will be sold on the lower level at Greenbrier Mall each Saturday during April from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
``Sometimes, we don't even have to ask,'' said Haddad. ``Engineering Service Inc. of Virginia Beach called us and offered $500.''
Haddad recently got a call from a Buffalo, N.Y., volunteer. John Bertie, a professional carpenter, has worked on the construction of nine other parks. He's taking a week off from work and bringing his own tools to help out with Fun Forest.
Cheers Steak and Seafood Restaurant on Greenbrier Parkway has become Fun Forest headquarters, where volunteers can sign up, donate money, get information or buy a bumper sticker, T-shirt or raffle ticket. Every Monday and Tuesday during April, Cheers will donate a portion of each guest ticket to the Fun Forest project. Also with every raffle ticket sold on those days, the restaurant will give away a child's meal. During construction week, Cheers has promised to serve about 500 hungry volunteers.
``I've never seen a community embrace their city like the people of Chesapeake,'' said Marcie Ward, general manager for Cheers. ``It's one of the exciting reasons we want to get involved.'' ILLUSTRATION: Fun Forest Logo
by CNB