Children storm new playground

As the countdown reached zero, hundreds of children let out a collective shriek Monday afternoon and stormed the castle at the Stewart Vincent Wolfe Memorial Playground.

The playground quickly became a sea of children swinging, sliding and climbing.

It was the moment toward which many in the community had worked for the last 1-1/2 years.

That morning, volunteers arrived at dawn to put some finishing touches on the project.

Many have gone through a variety of emotions over the course of the project.

"This is awesome, amazing. I think I'm to (feeling) incredible, now," said June Wolfe, widow of the man the playground memorializes. "It's just beautiful. I'm very excited for the children."

The playground got its beginning when Ron Martin approached Mark Watson, Yuma city administrator, about wanting to do something in memory of Martin's friend, Stewart Vincent Wolfe. Watson had lived in Temple, Texas, where a similar project was carried out with the oversight of Leathers and Associates, a firm that specializes in community-built playgrounds.

From Martin's $100,000 donation to the pennies young school children brought in, $300,000 was raised for the project, said Becky Chavez, co-captain of the project. One prison inmate, who wanted to remain anonymous, donated $5,000 for a $25 picket, and wanted it to simply say "Hope."

In 10 short but full days, the project took shape under the labor of thousands of people, from children who painted bricks to contractors who donated use of their employees. Firefighters on duty worked in between calls, and prison inmates did a lot of the heavy work. The unskilled fetched water and snacks and materials while the skilled workers ran saws and drills and hammers.

For many, such as the Garrisons, the involvement was a family commitment. While Dave Garrison handed out tools, wife Sandy helped run the child care center and their older son pitched in on the work.

Jeff Kammann, of Kammann Development, has practically lived at the West Wetlands the last couple of weeks as the construction superintendent for the playground.

Even before construction began, Kammann was working on the project by lining up supplies, tools and the support of other construction companies. He even provided a personal touch, carving a replica of a Harrier as one of the features.

Kammann said he is looking forward to going back to building houses and normal-length working days. He's also looking forward to bringing his own children to the playground.

All that community involvement is expected to keep down vandalism of the playground, said Chavez. "We really wanted to engage the kids. There were high school kids by the hundreds here every day."

In addition, the park will have a park host living there and lights and surveillance cameras will be installed. The park will be open only during the day, and closed from dusk to dawn.

"The biggest thing is the people working on this from all walks of life," Martin said. "The inmates were honored to be here. And the winter visitors were awesome. This showed they're part of the community. There was so much positive energy. It's amazing to see the finished product."

Martin said he plans to work on a second community-built playground, probably on the south side of Yuma. But give him a year or so to catch his breath.

"I gave a commitment to all the kids whose ideas didn't get used," Martin said. "Definitely, there will be another one in the future. It's such a positive, powerful event. Seeing the smiles on the kids' faces - that's the reward."

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Joyce Lobeck can be reached at

jlobeck@yumasun.com.