Slide at Lions Club Playground (photo by Robert Ford)
As summer wanes, the village’s public swimming places close; first the village beach on Aug. 28, then the Lions Club kids’ pool Sept. 4.
But while the summer swimming season might be drawing to a close, the parks are still open, and fundraising efforts to replace equipment are ongoing.
The Lions Club playground adjacent to Cantine Field on Washington Ave. is one of them. Club members and buildings and grounds workers recently installed a large slide and in the coming weeks the village’s Playground Committee and the Lions Club will combine funds to install a toddler-sized slide.
Heidi Brandt, who runs the village’s Playground Committee, said the large slide cost about $30,000, while the smaller one will cost about $10,000.
There are still a number of playground items that Brandt and club members would like to see for the playground, and for those items more money is needed.
The Playground Committee has about $4,500 in its coffers.
The committee will hold a fundraiser yard sale and bake sale at 17 Lafayette St. on Sept. 19. That’s Brandt’s home, and it’s where she runs her daycare business. There will also be a lemonade stand that will be staffed by youngsters who use the playground.
Brandt said donations of gently used items are being sought for the yard sale and those items can be dropped off at her daycare center.
Three years ago insurance inspectors for New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal, the village’s liability insurance carrier, inspected the three municipal playgrounds and declared many of the items unsafe for use by children and told village officials to take them down or lose their liability insurance.
The high cost of playground items has forced the village to permanently close the Seamon Park playground, while dedicating some funds each year to replacing items at the beach playground and the Lions Club playground.
Anyone who would like to donate funds to the two playgrounds can do so by mailing a check or dropping it off at Village Hall, 43 Partition St., Saugerties NY 12477.
Meanwhile, in the town, fundraisers are underway to replace Saugerties’ largest playground, the Small World Playground next to the Ice Arena, also considered unsafe due to age.