Building Christina's Playground

Volunteer with power sander







A lot of the work went on in small spaces.

Becca scraping by hand

There was sanding.  Lots and lots of sanding. Becca thought that the hand tools were more efficient than the power sander, and she was covered with the detritus to prove it.

There was plenty of time to get to know one another.

Workers were up top and underneath.

Some even bothered to read the directions.

Some of us were too short to reach our assignments and needed ladders and ladder holders to achieve our goals.

There were wheelbarrows of dirt to be toted.

And Christina-Taylor's girlfriend had plenty of time to supervise her elders.

Allstate's big wigs weren't afraid to get down and dirty.

"That's my supervisor" with the jack-hammer.

She has some serious construction skills, wouldn't you agree?

Volunteers came prepared with belts and tools.

Some of us used scissors to remove the bubble wrap.

Some of us had fun popping the bubble wrap (no photos available... I was too busy popping.)

These steering wheels really turn!  FUN!!

Then it was time to raise the slide.

"No, turn it the other way."

"No, the other other way."

And, as if by magic, the bottom was still connected to the top and no one lost a finger.

It takes a village to raise a playground.

Take a moment and notice the sponsors who transformed a schoolyard from boring to FUN!

The dedication is next Saturday.

There will be cameras and interviews and make-up and tears.

Today, September 17th, has been something else entirely.

It was personal .... intimate... connected.

Firefighters chose to hang out and help until they were called away.

Bloggers woke up at 5am to drive and be there on time.

Dr. Barlow came from Harlem and a Congressman came from Flagstaff.

He was a bit surprised that there was no media.... I'm not sure he got out of the car when he heard the news.

But that was just fine. 

We weren't there to show off.  

There was work to be done. 

So we donned our t-shirts and our caps and we did it.