After 17 years of use by local kids, the play structure at Colby Lake North Park off Valley Creek Road in Woodbury needs replacing. It no longer meets industry and accessibility standards, so new play equipment, which is wheelchair-accessible, is being installed this summer.
Rather than scrapping the old play structure, however, the city allowed volunteers from the nonprofit "Kids Around the World" organization to remove the play equipment for relocation to a new park -- across the globe.
Woodbury's structure, along with play equipment from the Plymouth, will be going to Glogow, Poland, where it will be rebuilt to create a playground for children living in the southwestern Polish city next spring.
"The project is a win-win," said public service worker Amy Howard, who is one of two certified playground inspectors on the city's staff. "Having volunteers remove the play structure saves the city both staff time and disposal costs; donating it helps Kids Around the World provide the gift of play to children in under-privileged areas."
DENMARK TOWNSHIP
Volunteers organize free ice cream social Denmark Township in south Washington County, at the confluence of the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers, is close to the metropolitan Twin Cities, yet a world apart.
Longtime resident Lyla Davies recognizes that "the days of card parties and drop-in visits, when everyone knew one another, are fading away and that many residents do not know their neighbors."
She represents two volunteer groups organizing a free ice cream social for all Denmark residents from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, in St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park's Hilltop Shelter, 10191 South St. Croix Trail.
Davies is a former president of the Denmark Township Historical Society and a member of Denmark Homemakers. A third sponsor of the event is the Denmark Town Board, whose members will be scooping ice cream at the celebration.
