St. John Park: Equipment arrives, installation begins Sept. 26

Park play equipment arrived in St. John last week, and installation day has been scheduled for Sept. 26.

Sisters and fifth generation St. John residents Valerie Brewer and Jessiann Loomis last year began raising funds to replace much of the park's old equipment after the town council decided to remove the equipment that was not up to code, which caused liabilities. With community support, Brewer and Loomis were able to raise about $65,000 and purchase all new equipment.

“It's exceeded our wildest dreams,” Brewer told the Gazette last month, noting they originally were hoping to be able to install a tiny structure with one slide. “Now we have this structure with five slides. Our goal was $40,000, and we blew that out of the water.”

Installation of the equipment starts Sept. 26, and the process will initially begin small.

“To start off, since there's a lot of parts, we're just going to have a few people there,” said Loomis. “What we don't want to end up with in the beginning is having people be there and just standing around while these parts are put together.”

Brewer and Loomis are compiling a list of people who would be willing to be on call during the week.

“We're trying to get a list of volunteers willing to be on call and come for a couple hours or so,” said Loomis. “It will be wait and see as we need people.”

Loomis said individuals can contact them through the St. John Park Fund Facebook page to volunteer.