CHAPPELL, NE — Just in time for the Spring, Chappell has a new playground for children of the town to play on.
“Our old playground equipment was the original that was here and it definitely needed some updating,” Chappell Economic Development Director Shaunna Mashek said.
The town held a grand opening for the new playground on March 27. Mashek says the project was made possible with fundraising efforts and grant money. Grant funds were provided by the Buckley Trust, Virginia Smith Trust, Ethel Abbott Foundation, the Walmart in Sidney and Game Time.
Iowa-based Cunning Recreation helped with the layout and providing cost estimates for the project. The Chappell Feedlot and Chris Ray Insurance in Chappell also helped with the project.
One of the main goals was to make the park more accessible with the addition of a wrap around sidewalk and special equipment.”
“We also have an ADA swing,” Mashek said. “We do have a couple wheelchair bound kiddos in our community. We thought it’d be a great opportunity to get that in there and that way they can have some fun while their little siblings have fun as well.”
During the grand opening, community leaders invited residents out to an Easter egg hunt at the park. Mashek says the event was a big success, drawing about 200 people.
“The community is just amazing here in Chappell,” she said. “They’re super supportive of all our kiddos. We did beverages and snacks and it was an awesome turnout.”
Now, just over a week since it opened, plenty of kids are already taking advantage.
“It makes my heart complete just to know that it’s all worth the hard work that all of our volunteers put in, all of our local trusts and grants outside of our community,” Mashek said. “Everybody can see when we all work together what we can create for a community.”
