Community rolls up sleeves, installs new equipment in Trenton City Park

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

TRENTON ? In most small communities, the city park serves as the hub of outdoor activities. It is the site of summer picnics, family reunions and other social gatherings.

Things are no different in Trenton, so the community is taking extra care to upgrade the city park, making it more attractive to people of all ages.

The latest improvement was the addition of new playground equipment. City residents put the finishing touches on the project on Tuesday, Sept. 29, by placing wood chips under the equipment.

Brad Miller, of Trenton, said the park improvements are a display of city pride and more is on the way. ?We added this playground equipment for the young kids and we also hope to set up a disc golf course yet this fall for the older kids. Then, we plan on painting the shelter house.?

Miller and his wife, Kris, are two of the people spearheading the updating of the park. Kris quickly defers credit, saying it was a community project. ?People here are really excited and are trying to make this a better community,? she said.

Her husband quickly listed activities that are hosted in the park. Most of the activities are the aforementioned events but he is swift to add that the annual Easter Egg hunt is one of the community?s big draws. ?We have as many as 90 kids here for that,? he said proudly.

Work on installing the playground equipment began the week of Sept. 21, culminating in a final assembly on Saturday, Sept. 26, that attracted 24 community residents who rolled up their sleeves and did what they could to aid the project. With so many workers, the final assembly only took about four hours, Kris Miller said. ?It was a very good turnout, I was very impressed.?

She wrote grant applications last winter that led to funds being received from the William M. and Donna J. Hoaglin Foundation Incorporated and the Enhance Henry County Community Foundation. Other donations for the $20,000 project came from the Trenton United Methodist Church and friends of the Trenton Park.

The equipment was purchased from the Miracle Playground Co., of Missouri.

Trenton put in a swing set 12 years ago and the new equipment is the final piece of the puzzle for the younger set, Kris Miller said.

She added that she knows the equipment will receive plenty of use during moderate weather. ?There are usually people in the park all summer. This is such a great thing for the community.?