Anticipation among the kids in Mallaig was running high in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s official unveiling of the new Mallaig Community Playground.
People were commenting on the Facebook page of the Mallaig Agricultural Society — the group that spearheaded this effort — that their kids were buzzing with excitement whenever they would pass by the playground that was under construction.
That excitement was on full display Tuesday evening, when not even two seconds after the ribbon was cut, dozens of kids stampeded onto the new play area to take it for a test drive. Giggles filled the air as kids took turns going down the slides, crossing the jungle gym, and descending down the pole.
“Seeing how excited these kids are with this playground makes all the work we did completely worth it,” said Amanda Amyotte, one of the leaders of the initiative.
The journey to bring a new playground to Mallaig began when Amanda and Stacy Amyotte came to a realization that the community’s old playground was not meeting standards, and parts of the structure were falling apart.
The playground committee consulted catalogues and looked at the set-up of different community playgrounds in order to come up with a design for the new park. A Lac La Biche playground inspired the central structure of Mallaig’s playground.
While the idea to construct a new playground came from two friends, getting the project realized was a true community effort.
“So many people both young and old pitched in to do whatever was needed to make this vision a reality,” said Amanda in her speech to the crowd at the grand opening. “I want to thank everyone that helped out with fundraising projects such as hot dog lunches, lemonade stands and 50/50 raffles. These were just a few of the many ways our community came together to raise the funds needed.”
Personal and corporate donations also provided a major assist in financing this $170,000 project. The groups and individuals that provided monetary support included the County of St. Paul, Devon Canada, Marguerite Malo, Mallaig Seniors, Mallaig General Store, V3 Contracting, David Thompson Corporation, TELUS Corporation, Champion Furnace, St. Arnault Lumber and the St. Paul Charity Hockey Benefit.
