More Thanks

We have forgotten to mention a thank you to the welders who came and helped us prepare the site for the new playground equipment. So a big THANK YOU to Kings County Mechanical for all the welding.

And a thank you to the St. John Ambulance for being onsite during Build Day.

Enjoy the wet weather. Stay dry. Have fun.

National Tree Day

As of March 2, 2011 the Wednesday of National Forest Week is to be known as National Tree Day. So since this week is National Forest Week and today is Wednesday, that means today is National Tree Day. The purpose of the National Tree Day is for Canadians to celebrate the many benefits trees provide us, such as clean air, wildlife habitat, reducing energy demand, and connecting with nature.

At Norton Elementary School today, Landscape NB arranged for Stewart Duncan of Two Boys Lawn Care & Maintenance to plant a tree donated by Sun Nurseries in the new Legacy Park.

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Here are a few more companies and people we need to thank:

Sure Shot Line Painting - Bill Hudson

Mrs. Dunsters, The Norton Baptist Church, & Rothesay Superstore for providing food for our volunteers on Build Day

Build Day success!

Despite the wet weather conditions, we assembled our new playground pieces and begun many parts of the Legacy Park yesterday here in Norton. A little after 3pm local time Legion members of our community led the children from Wonderland Child Care down to the school where we unleashed them upon the new playground equipment. Not long after they began to play, the skies cleared and the sun began to shine! 

Have fun children! And for the teachers, school at Norton Elementary will be quite interesting on Monday!

Thank you once more to all the volunteers. It took a village to build a playground!

Members of the Royal Canadian Legion Norton Branch 76 led the children to the new playground.

The bulldozer.

The fire truck.

Down the new slide.

Climbing the camel climber.

Triple slide.

Children playing everywhere.

A teeter-tooter like you never seen.

It Took A Village

It took a village, but we did it! The new playground and park is officially open. The work will continue since we have more ideas and projects planned for the future as we continue this wonderful community building adventure we have been enjoying.

We want to THANK everyone who helped out today. It was such an amazingly awe-inspiring day. I feel kinda speechless right now. The energy in our community was absolutely contagious today. What a wonderful accomplishment we all achieved together!

We'll have pictures up on the website soon so those of you from away can see what we did today. For now, we ask everyone to relax and have an enjoyable weekend.

And of course, a big, big thank you to Let Them Be Kids!

From all of us here in Norton, may your days be as filled with as much excitement and good spirit as we experienced today!

One more day

One day left till Build Day.

Please remember to bring your waiver form with you on Saturday. It will help speed up the registration process if you have your waiver filled out, but unsigned, when you arrive.

Let's all hope the weather cooperates for this memorable day.

Thank you and we'll see you tomorrow!

Don't forget to tell your family and friends who cannot be here to tune in and watch the project come together. The day will be broadcast over the Internet tomorrow through the Let Them Be Kids website.

Norton Community Playground & Legacy Park

We would like to THANK the following people and businesses for donating food for Build Day this Saturday:

Peter Totton

The Country Butcher

Kredl's Corner Market

Sussex Valley Vegetable Farms Inc

John E. Goullette

Sysco

Portage staff & students

Calvin's Restaurant

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When we began this project, we made a list of desired outcomes (you can see them HERE). We wanted to create a place that was safe and welcoming, where residents of all ages could gather. We wanted to create a feeling of ownership and remind our community that when everyone works together a lot can be accomplished. As such, we have since the beginning referred to this playground as a community playground. It will not just be a playground for the elementary-aged students who attend the school. This will be a place where all ages and everyone in the community can gather. So this is most definitely going to be the Norton Community Playground.

Another outcome we hoped to achieve was to create a snowball effect where other projects would be conceived and completed in the near future. As such we are already beginning to leave a legacy since we will be creating so much more than just a playground this Saturday. We will also be creating an outdoor classroom, flower gardens, a butterfly garden, and painting murals and improving the school, as well as creating a quiet picnic area.

Perhaps one of the most important outcomes we hoped to achieve when this all began was to help teach our children and youth to be engaged, appreciative, responsible, and respectful of what they have and what they can offer to future generations. We hope to begin projects and commemorative pieces which will be located in the Legacy Park area of the playground that will display the wonderful history of Norton and the loving, community-minded people who have called Norton home. And we hope to have the youth involved with these projects.

There are many stories to be told and we did not want to limit the dedication of the park to just one person so we decided a community legacy would be much better. This way everyone has a chance to leave behind a legacy and have their story heard for generations to come.

The New Equipment is Here

The new equipment for the playground has arrived. We will begin unloading the new pieces on Thursday.

All the way from Ontario! Now it is here.

Then on Saturday, we put all the pieces together. Woohoo! Then the children get to play again.

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We would like to thank Downey Ford for letting us borrow a car for our Let Them Be Kids representative who will be here on Wednesday to help us with Build Day.

And a big thank you to the ladies of the Sacred Heart Church in Norton for preparing baked goods for our bake sale. 

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And as we get closer to the actual Build Day, we still need a few things: (perhaps someone out there can help us):

• we need approximately one load of crushed rock.
• we need lots of mulch, and then we need some more!
• and we might still be in need of wood, but we will let you know.

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As well, please be aware that on Saturday (Build Day), all children must be accompanied by an adult if they are on-site. Wonderland Day Care will be open for those who do not want their children on-site until all the equipment is assembled and we have the big opening!

We will be providing more details about Build Day in a newsletter this week.

In One Week . . .

In one week from today, there will be a brand new playground and park in Norton.

You have until Saturday to sign up to help and volunteer. Be a part of something amazing! Let's all build this together.

Bottle Drive this Friday!

On Friday, September 14, we will be having a bottle drive in order to raise additional funds for the new park and playground. We are asking people in the community to please drop off refundable bottles at the Norton Elementary School anytime after 5:30pm.

Depending on the number of volunteers available, we would also be able to drive around the community to pick up refundable bottles. So, if anyone has free time and could help out on Friday evening, please be at the school between 5:30-6:00pm to be given a collection route.

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We would also like to take this opportunity to thank a few people and organisations who have been kind enough to help out.

Thank you to Derek & Glenda Roberts for the purchase of plane tickets for our Let Them Be Kids representative who will be assisting us next week and on Build Day.

Thank you to Peter Norrad and Norrad's Redemption Centre for all the wonderful help and kindness they have shown us and for the use of a van for our bottle drives. 

Thank you to the St. John Ambulance who will be on site on Build Day. 

And last but not least, thank you to Pickett's Portables for port-a-potties on Build Day.

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And please don't forget to tune in and watch a community in Ottawa build a park this Saturday, September 15. You can follow their progress here and you can watch the webcast of their Build Day at the Let Them Be Kids website. We'll be broadcasting our Build Day over the world wide web on September 22, as well, so tell your family and friends who cannot help to watch all the excitement online.

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On Saturday, September 15, there will be a flea market at the Hampton Curling Club. We will be setting up a table there and selling baked goods. If anyone would like to donate baked goods for us to sell, please drop them off at the Catholic Church Hall any time during the day on Friday, September 14.  

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And don't forget today is Thursday and that means one thing here in Norton: bingo! That's right. Bingo. The doors open at 6:00pm tonight at the Norton Legion and the playing begins at 6:30pm. The more people who show up, the bigger the pay outs. Sweet. And, as always, a portion of the proceeds go towards the new park and playground.

Certificate of Appreciation

On August 24, the Norton Legion hosted a volunteer appreciation night to thank everyone who volunteered at the Legion throughout the past year. And because of the Norton Community Park & Playground Committee's help with Bingo throughout the spring and summer, the Norton Legion chose to show their appreciation:

 

We certainly appreciate the Legion, too, and all that it does for our community! 

Volunteering can make a person feel all nice and good inside. If you haven't tried it, you should. 

And besides, it's quite amazing what can get accomplished when people decide to all work together towards common goals.

Coffee House postponed

The Coffee House that was initially announced for this upcoming Friday evening has been postponed till a later date. We will let you know any new information when it is available.

But, not to fret, for I am sure there will be something else going on this weekend. Keep your ears open. It's almost Build Day!

Congratulations for two more new Playgrounds!

Yesterday two communities built new playgrounds with the help of Let Them Be Kids: Parsons Pond, NL and Sydney, NS. We'll be doing the same in twelve days!

You can check out the two communities on their webpages: Parsons Pond & Sydney.

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Don't forget about the Norton Elementary School Coffee House on Friday, September 14 at 7:00pm at the Catholic Church Hall. Admission is by donation and all funds go towards the new playground. Read more information here.

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On Saturday, September 15, a community in Ottawa will be building a new community park. Please tune in and watch their Build Day and get a feel for what September 22 will be like in Norton. Their Build Day will be aired globally through the Let Them Be Kids website. And when it's our turn to build our park and playground, we will be streaming all the day's events on the Internet too. Pretty cool! The whole world could be watching, Norton. It's going to be an amazing day.

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And please, if you have not re-signed up for Build Day on September 22, please do so. We have a new registration form with options for you to choose what you would like to do on Build Day and when you are available to help. Plus, there is a section to tell us if you will be bringing children who will need to be supervised. We apologise for the slight inconvenience but it will make the day run smoothly if we can be well organised in advance.

Norton Elementary School Coffee House

Well, school is back up and started for another year. The teachers, staff, and students are excited and happy about all the positive changes that have been happening in Norton and they want to help get people motivated for Build Day and excited about the new park and playground we have been working on. So they have been busy putting together a fun, entertaining way to raise some more money.

Everyone in the community is invited to attend an open Coffee House hosted by the Norton Elementary School. The Coffee House will take place beginning at 7:00pm on Friday, September 14th at the Catholic Church Hall in Norton. Admission is by donation and all proceeds will go towards the new playground. There will be coffee and treats available and plenty of fabulous entertainment!

Each class at Norton Elementary School will be putting together some sort of act or performance for the evening and all the teachers and staff will also be performing too. Additionally, there is room available for other people from the community to get up and perform. If you have a secret talent (for example, a song, skit, or interpretive dance) you would love to share with the community, please contact Kelly Fillmore or Tanya Sherwood at the Norton Elementary School (839.3000) to let them know and to find out more details.

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And a few more friendly reminders on this first Friday of September:

We would still love for all the volunteers to re-sign up for Build Day so we can start organising and putting together a schedule for the day's plethora of events. You can do so by clicking on the JOIN THE EFFORT button on the left side of this page. It only takes a minute, so please help us make September 22 run nice and smooth. 

As well, we are in need of at least 8-10 strong, hard-working men to volunteer throughout the daytime on Thursday, Sept. 20 and Friday, Sept. 21. And we don't necessarily need the same eight men to be there all day. We could divide the work up in shifts, for example, one shift of guys in the morning and another shift in the afternoon. On those two days, we will need to unload the new equipment from the truck so the pieces can be assembled on Build Day, plus we have a bunch of prep work to get ready in advance of the Saturday when all the volunteers show up.

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And please continue to check out our webpage, as we will soon be posting a nice comprehensive list containing all the tools and materials we still need to obtain or borrow for Build Day. It's just around the corner. Before you know it, we will all get to enjoy a lovely new park and playground here in our wonderful little community of Norton!

Remember, it takes a village to raise a child, and you can be a part of it!

Good things are happening. Get involved!

Benches & Picnic Tables for the Playground

For a limited time you may purchase a bench or picnic table for the playground.

Benches without backs are $200 each. Benches with backs are $250 each.

Children-sized picnic tables are $100 each.

Large size picnic tables are $150 each.

We are proud to be offering a limited number of benches and picnic tables to be purchased for the new playground. If you would like to order one for the playground, you can have a message or someone's name engraved onto the bench and for the picnic tables we can have plaques made with your message on it. All benches and picnic tables are being made locally.

We request that all orders be in by September 14. There is an order form below, or you can contact us for more information: Darlene O'Donnell - 512.0890 or Jodi Totton - 434.5276.

Click on image to increase the size.