Community hopes to raise $100,000 to build playground
By Steve Herring
Published in News on January 25, 2016 1:46 PM
CALYPSO -- A grassroots effort is under way in this small Duplin County community to raise $100,000 to build a new playground at the town's Albritton Park.
Organizers say they hope to raise half through corporate donations and the rest from the public and do so in short order so that the playground can be built in early May.
"It is a group of local citizens, the town is financially challenged in that it cannot afford the play area that some of us are looking at," said Debbie Jones, one of the organizers. "It is what we call the Albritton Recreation Park Committee. I think our first meeting was August or September.
"Right now, adjacent to the ball field is over 19,000 square feet of unused space. There used to be a piece of a playground there. But over time and use and neglect, the town had to remove it sometime ago -- I don't know exactly when. But there is nothing out there, and we have 250 to 300 children who come during T-ball season, baseball season, softball season. We even go through football."
Those numbers include children from communities surrounding the town, she said.
Mrs. Jones said that she hopes the playground will serve as a drawing point for families to have a safe, secure place to take their children to play and have fun.
Plans are for two distinct play areas -- one for ages 2 to 5 and the other for 6 to 12.
Unlike the Kids World Playground at Mount Olive's Westbrook Park, the Calypso playground would not require regular treatments to protect it from the elements, she said.
Putting the playground together over May 6 and 7 will be a community effort, Mrs. Jones said.
"I am hoping to draw from Mount Olive, Faison, Beautancus, Calypso -- all around us to put it together," she said. "Right now I am shooting for the first weekend in May. I was going to do the 22nd and 23rd of April, but I hear that is Pickle Festival weekend.
"The build time will be that weekend. We are starting the fundraising this weekend. It is going out then. I am hoping corporate sponsors, we will get about 50 percent from them. Then I am hoping to raise the other funds through fundraisers, churches, individual donations."
Memory and honor bricks will be sold as well. The cost of the 4-by-8-inch bricks will be $100 each.
Brochures will be placed in local churches this Sunday. The brochures will explain the area being considered for the playground and include a photo of the proposed playground.
Any size donation will be appreciated, Mrs. Jones said.
Checks should be made payable to the Town of Calypso and earmarked for Albritton Park and mailed to Town of Calypso Albritton Recreation Park, Attention Debbie Jones, P.O. Box 385, Calypso, N.C. 28325.
It is possible that a dedication ceremony would be held on the second day of construction when people are still around, she said.
"The days of the build I am hoping to have a DJ there, some food, beverages for the workers," she said. "For the workers you have got to do that because it is all going to be volunteers."
For some of the larger donors, Mrs. Jones said initial plans are to have a wall where plaques with a donor's name can be mounted.
"The company we are getting the (memory) bricks from, they have like 12-by-12 tiles of granite," she said. "It is gorgeous. When it is etched it comes out in gold. So I would like to put the sponsors on something like that.
"Now will I be able to have something for everybody who donated $50 and up? No. I don't think I am going to have that luxury, I don't think. I will have to see what the committee wants to do. Once we get the funds coming in, and see what it is going to look like, I did show that to the committee members. We are excited about and hope it all comes together."
For more information, or to make a donation, call Mrs. Jones at 919-222-5445.