Playground a popular spot
Rick Zatta, chairman of the parks and recreation board for Canton Township, shows the plan for the park to Lowe’s employee Marta McCombs. A crew from Lowe’s planted trees as part of a plan to improve the park. Future improvements will include a walking trail, new pavilion and parking.
Lowe’s employee Stacey Kraeer of Canton Township plants a tree at the township park. Lowe’s donated the time of employees and products to plant 15 of the 47 trees that will be in the park. In addition to the trees, plans for the park include a quarter-mile walking trail.
Lowe’s employee Marta McCombs surrounds a newly planted tree with fresh soil at Canton Township’s park in September.
Doug Rutan, a certified installer with Play Safe playground and sports equipment, adjusts the merry-go-round at the Canton Township playground that the township recently purchased.
Rick Zatta is amazed when he stops by Canton Township’s first playground by the number of people, both young and old, enjoying the swings and merry-go-round.
Earlier this fall, the township parks and recreation board, with help from contractors, installed new equipment and added trees as they transformed a former ballfield off Route 844 (Jefferson Avenue) and Mark Avenue into a playground.
“A couple of weekends ago, I stopped by and the place was packed,” said Zatta, chairman of the parks board. “Vehicles were parked on the grass, that’s how many people were there. Even when it was cold, people were there using the park and having fun.”
“And it is not just people from Canton, but I talked with people from Prosperity and West Middletown who stopped,” he added. “I even had one Canton resident tell me that he wished all of his tax money could go just for the park.”
There are also swings that are wheelchair accessible, but Zatta said that area still needs to be made accessible through future improvements. Other children are enjoying the swings, he added.
Zatta said that crews from Lowe’s planted 47 trees a few weeks ago. The home improvement company donated the labor and gave the park board $1,200 that could be used toward the purchase of material. Weeping cherries, autumn red oaks and surprise oaks and red buds now line the park.
“We wanted seasonal trees with color that would change throughout the year,” Zatta said.
Also completed this fall was a bear carved out of a tree stump by world-renowned tree carver Joe King of Champion. Zatta said King has done carvings In Russia, Germany, England and Croatia. He also spends a month each year working on totem poles in Alaska. Plans call for King to do additional carvings on tree trunks set throughout the park.
Future plans at the playground call for a walking trail, another pavilion, improvements to the parking lot and a handicapped accessible drinking fountain. Zatta encourages residents enjoying the playground to express their support of continued improvements to township officials.