ATHABASCA – More than a decade after forming for the sole purpose of funding and building a new playground at Landing Trail Intermediate School in Athabasca, the LTIS Fundraising Committee has now officially done both, thanks to a lot of help from Aspen View Public Schools, the many volunteers who fundraised and organized and the corporate donations that brought them to their goal.
“The parent committee that presented to the board … presented a very comprehensive and exciting proposal for a new set of playground equipment for Landing Trail Intermediate School,” said Aspen View Supt. Brian LeMessurier at an April 2014 board meeting when the school division approved a loan of $322,470 to the committee so a new playground that would benefit the school and community at large.
“It is a very ambitious project, but a very achievable project,” reported the Athabasca Advocate in its April 8, 2014, edition.
He was proven right Friday, June 3, 2022, when students, staff, past and current members of the committee and representatives from some of the sponsors gathered at the school, on the playground itself, for two final cheque presentations that put the fundraising committee over the top.
For perspective, the Grade 12 students that graduated from Edwin Parr Composite at the end of May would have been Grade 4 students when the fundraising to pay back the loan started and would have been in early elementary school when the committee was formed in 2011.
Appropriately enough, last week’s presentation happened during the morning recess, which featured clear, blue skies, the sun shining down and the newly blossomed forest surrounding the playground adding a brilliant touch of green to the long-awaited event.
Current committee chair Michelle Purdy-Hemmons shared the tale of how the last of the funds came together with the help of Canadian Natural Resources Limited.
“So, our playground was pretty close to being paid off,” she said. “COVID has given us a lot of challenges by delaying our casinos and that kind of thing. That was primarily where all the money came from to pay back this amazing playground.
The record of payment from Aspen View shows multiple tens of thousands of dollars paid off every year since 2015, until May of 2020, when COVID took its hold in Alberta, and the fundraising began to slow to a trickle. In April 2021, TC Energy came through with a $10,000 donation; that and a couple of Facebook auctions in 2021 and 2022 paid the bills, but the well was definitely running dry.
Knowing about those challenges DJ Williamson, a local CNRL employee, went to the company, explained the situation and soon after, the goal was reached with a $20,000 donation, which was recognized last week. In addition, TC Energy pitched in an additional $5,000, on top of its previous $10,000 contribution.
“CNRL fully supports local initiatives to better our communities in which we do business,” Williamson said in a statement afterwards.
LTIS principal Joe MacIsaac told the hundreds in attendance the playground is a big draw not only for students who attend the school, but the community all around.
“If they're new to our community, one of the first things that they notice when they drive up, they look at that tower and they go, ‘Oh my goodness, I get to spend most of my days here in the next little while?’ and they are super thrilled about this,” he said of the crowning feature of the playground, a towering play structure that includes stairs, slides, ropes and any number of other playthings to take the pressure off during recess.
In addition to the durable and exciting new play structures, the playground project also included new basketball courts, new soccer goals, and redoing the baseball diamond.
“You know that you enjoy it every single day and we've had students in the past who've enjoyed it, and in the future, of course they will enjoy it, so we're thrilled that we can celebrate that we actually have paid this off, all of these structures here and this playground,” said MacIsaac.
Purdy-Hemmons said afterwards there have been a lot of people doing a lot of hard work over the years to accomplish the goal set by the committee in 2014.
“On behalf of the fundraising committee I would like to thank everyone involved in getting this playground built and paid back to Aspen View. Thank you to our community for all the support with our Facebook auctions and to Jenn Oba for organizing the auctions for our committee. Thank you to the students at LTIS who contributed their artwork for the auctions. A big thank you to CNRL and TC Energy for their generous donations which paid off the final balances owing on the playground,” she said.
“We look forward to being able to use future casino and fundraising proceeds for new items at the school.”
