Tuesday, June 23, 2015

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO BUILD THIS...

We still need volunteers to build this playground.  We still need to borrow your tools for the week.  It is not going to get done without your help.


We are running 3 shifts a day, each about 4 hours each.  No building experience needed or required.  
Click here to sign up and follow the directions

These are posts relating to volunteers and tools.  .

If you have any questions, email kidsjoyland@gmail.com, or call 484.225.0435 (Ed's phone) or 717.653.5911 and ask for Joanne.

Thanks, sign up, and lets build a playground!!!!

Pickets and Tiles... become a permanent part of KJL

How can your family name, childrens name, or grandchildrens name become a permanent part of the playground?

Pickets are sold out, but you can still buy a tile.

By purchasing a picket that will be a part of the fence around the tot lot, or create a tile that will become part of the playground.  We are all sold out of Pickets, but tiles are still available.




Pickets are only $35.00 a piece, or a family of four for $120.00.  Business can get in on the action for only $50.00.

You get 20 engraved characters total, including letters, numbers, spaces, and punctuation.

Deadline for pickets is July 31st.




Tiles are made at painting events.  The next one will be held at the Donegal Fall Fest at the Donegal Primary School on Friday September 18th.




Ground Breaking Ceremony!!!

left to right: Rotarian Ed Bartakovits, Connie Hajioannou, Rotarian Joanne Pinkerton, Joshua Deering

The Mount Joy Rotary is pleased to announce that the fundraising is nearly complete, and the heavy equipment will be moving into position in anticipation of the event of the season for kids 1-12 in the Mount Joy area.  Kids’ Joy Land is coming back to a park near you!

A kick off event, the official ground breaking, will be held on Sunday, July 12th beginning at 3 pm at the playground site at Mount Joy Borough Park adjacent to Kunkle Field.  All are invited to celebrate with family-friendly activities including Rita’s Water Ice, a coloring station, face painting, and other activities.  Families may purchase pickets or purchase and create hand print tiles that will become part of the playground that will be built in mid-September.    Entertainment will be provided by local children’s entertainer, Phredd!

Stop by for some fun, and connect with friends and neighbors as Kids' Joy Land rises from the ashes!  Additional parking is available at The Gathering Place on Pine Street.  Participants are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets.


What is a Construction Captain?


Construction Captains are volunteers who work alongside the Leathers & Associates Consultant, overseeing and instructing crews and helping to maintain quality. They make it possible for the Leathers’ consultants to keep hundreds of volunteers working efficiently. Strongly committed captains take care of the details that make working on the project fun, safe, and productive. Without them, volunteers become frustrated because they have to wait for instructions, resulting in lost workers.

Most Important: Captains must be present for all days of construction from 7 a.m. until close.

What Do Captains Do?

Some captains will have tasks that involve complex and precise carpentry. Others will oversee work that requires no carpentry skills at all. All, however, will spend time supervising and instructing others...sometimes 2 people, sometimes 20 or more. Some captains will work on only 1 or 2 things the entire build.  Others may see 10 different tasks through to completion.

Here are some other things you should know about captains:

Captains must enjoy working with people, be strongly committed to the project, and be willing and physically able to “go the distance” during construction. They should also be organized, flexible, and able to keep their wits and humor about them under difficult circumstances. Leadership skills are a plus!

Of all the qualities good captains may possess, people skills are by far the most important. Most other things can be easily learned on site.

At least three captains should be skilled in carpentry.

All captains must attend Organization Day, which is July 21st, so that our office representative can brief them about what’s ahead.

Captains are always welcome to attend committee meetings. At the very least, they must attend the job meeting the night before construction begins — that’s when the construction consultant will describe the various tasks, which are then assigned at 7:15 each morning.

Assignments for Captains

We encourage you to read through the following list of jobs and begin thinking about which ones you might enjoy doing. However, please remain flexible until the construction consultants arrive and have a chance to discuss various assignments with you. We need to be able to assign people to the most pressing tasks — and to match all the captains with jobs that best suit their abilities. We understand the sacrifice you’re making by committing six days (or more) to this project, and we’ll do everything we can to make it a great experience for you and every member of your community.

Safety:   The Safety Captains primary responsibility will be to patrol the site looking for safety hazards — improper tool use, overexertion, clutter that could cause accidents, etc. This person should have some familiarity with power tools, a diplomatic nature, and a strong feeling of personal responsibility for maintaining a safe site. All committee members and captains will discuss specifics at the job meeting the night before the build begins.

Site: The site captain’s job begins shortly before Organization Day. We strongly encourage you to recruit a Parks & Recreation employee for this job. This person is responsible for preparing and staging the site for construction. On Organization Day, our office representative will draw a map that shows where to stockpile materials, pitch tents, and put the power supply. The site captain’s job is to see that everything is in its proper place. Improper site setup can cause the loss of countless volunteer hours — dumping the gravel in the middle of the playground site and putting the power supply 400 feet from the prefab area are mistakes to avoid. When everything is in place, the site setup captain continues to monitor the site and keep things organized. The site captain will also work with a surveyor to stake out the playground. This will happen twice. The first time is for the Organization Day, when only a few reference points must be located. The second time is a week or so before construction, when all the post-holes must be located and staked out. Furthermore, the site captain will then supervise drilling of the post holes right before our consultants return for build week.

Electrical: The electrical captain’s job requires constant vigilance. While this person need not be an electrician, he or she needs some knowledge of the electrical load capacities for cords of various sizes and of the amount of “juice” required by various tools.

Equipment: There will be a variety of manufactured equipment (slides, swings, cable nets, etc.) that will be incorporated into the project. Working with our Construction Consultants, this person will take charge of the installation of these components.

Prefab: During construction, you’ll set up a mini-factory under a tent next to the site and build many components and pieces of equipment there. Taking charge of this part of the project requires an ability to maintain high standards of quality and keep track of many items.

Post setting: The captain for this activity — someone positive and upbeat — makes sure the right posts go in the right holes and that people don’t overexert themselves.

Fence or perimeter: This captain oversees the construction of the fence or perimeter according to the site plan — usually in a straight line around the perimeter of the playground. We generally look for someone who can read blueprints and who is comfortable with simple carpentry.

Ground Cover: This captain sees that ground cover is spread to appropriate depths and in an orderly way. He or she should be comfortable working with large numbers of people — and upbeat enough to inspire the “troops.” Children aged 10 and older and unskilled adults accomplish this task, using wheelbarrows, rakes, shovels, and strong backs.

Framing and decking: This captain — who should be skilled in carpentry — first works with the construction consultant to learn our techniques for building decks and then instructs the crews and oversees their progress.

Special features and details: This captain will work with our construction consultants and the Design and Special Features Committee on the special features of the project. Together this group will organize, produce and install the details for the playground.

Cleanup: One captain may be assigned to keep the site free of debris, separate lumber scraps from usable lumber, and stack the usable lumber pieces in an accessible place. The site needs continuous pickup to ensure safe working conditions.


Post-Construction: One or more people should plan on working several hours on the day after construction to continue cleanup, tools repair and return, punch list items, and any other last-minute chores. It may be a good idea to have a few “fresh faces” planned, as committee members and other captains are pretty worn out by Monday morning.

So that is the breakdown of a very special kind of volunteer.  Are you up for the task? Contact Ed (ed.bartakovits@gmail.com), Joanne (joanne@gatheringplacemj.com), or Joshua (psu1rules@yahoo.com) if you have any questions.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Tools, Tools, Tools.

         
We need you and your tools to build this playground.  To save cost, we are asking the community to let us borrow your saws, drills, levels, ladders, miter saws, impact wrenches, etc., so we don’t have to go out and buy them.
 
Your tools will be safe.  You will be given a number and every tool you let us borrow will be inventoried and have that number written or engraved on it.  We promise to return your tools at the end of the week in the same condition we received it.  All tools with blades will have new blades installed before we use them.  You get to keep the blade.  We will check to make sure all safety features are working correctly
.  
All tools will be stored in a locked trailer.  There will be security cameras on site.  There will also be security personal patrolling the constructions site at night.  The site will be well lit all night.  The tool coordinators will check the tools in and out.  We will know where your tools are at all times.  If we break it or lose it, we’ll replace it.

We need you to check in and register your tools the weekend before construction starts.  Others will be using them.  We will publish a schedule when the tool trailer will be open for tool registration and drop off
.
Here is a list of what we need:

Heavy equipment:  2 Boom auger trucks with 12” and 16-18” drills for drilling the 200+ post holes.  A backhoe with front bucket to move mulch, stone, dirt.  A crane to set the cones.  A forklift/bobcat with forks to unload trucks and move materials.  IF YOU OR YOUR COMPANY CAN PROVIDE ANY OF THE ABOVE, PLEASE LET US KNOW RIGHT AWAY.

Tools:  10”-12” portable table saw, Chainsaw, 3 sliding compound miter saws, 4 power miter boxes, 2 electric impact wrenches, 6 jigsaws, 2 small sledge hammers, 2 100’ tape measures, 3 digging bars, bolt cutter, 5 brooms, 15 paint brushes, 4 scrub brushes, 15 5gal plastic buckets, 10 large C-clamps, 6 bar clamps 4-8’ long, 50 empty coffee cans or plastic jugs, 2 cats paws, 20’ chain with hooks on each end, 2 chisel sets, 2 come-alongs 2-ton, pancake compressor with hose and attachments, 3 crowbars, 75+ 3/8” drills variable speed and reversible – half cordless with extra batteries and half corded, 10 impact drill drivers, 4 heavy duty drills, dumpster, 5 100’ electric cords, 5 50’ electric lead cords, 12 gang boxes, 20 electric splitters, 60+ 25’ extension cords, extension ladder, 2 fire extinguishers, 120 pairs of heavy cotton work gloves, 2 angle grinders, 3 pickaxes, 50+ carpentry hammers, 20 hard hats, garden hose, 30 36” or longer levels, 60 Nail aprons, lots of pencils, pipe cutter, 10 post hole diggers, 25 heavy rakes, 12 3/8” routers, 40 pair safety glasses, 2 belt sanders, band saw, 25 circular saws heavy duty, 25 pair of sawhorses, 2 sawzalls, 15 screwdrivers, 35 shovels, bevel square, 35 speed squares, 2 framing squares, 6 stepladders 6-8’, 3 stepladders 10-12’, 50 tape measures, 5 tarps, awning, laser level and tripod, trash cans, 3 vise grips, 30 wheelbarrows, 4 crescent wrenches, 2 allen wrenches, open end wrench set, extra 9/16 open end wrenches, ratchets with deep sockets especially 9/16.


If you can provide any of the above, please contact us at kidsjoyland@gmail.com.

Volunteers - We need your help




Volunteers – We need you.  Join the fun.
We are looking for fun, energetic, and enthusiastic people to help with the rebuilding of Kids’ Joy Land.  We have all types of jobs for all types of people.  Here is a list of the main categories where we need people to help.  Tools, Materials, Food, Childcare, Construction Captains, Volunteers, Public Relations, Special Features (Art and Design), Children.  Each of these categories has their own planning guide to help you along.  You don't have to invent the wheel. We need help in every category.  We need help filling chair positions that will require behind the scenes work leading up to the Build Week.  These positions will require a few hours a week over the summer.  If you have a friend that you like to work with, become co-chairs and brainstorm together. You will have as much help from the Project Chairs (Joanne, Ed, and Josh) as you need.
Construction Captains are special.  You will be on site all day, several days during the build week.  You will be leading small groups of volunteers doing specific projects.  You don’t have to know a lot about construction, but you have to be a fun, motivating, people person and keep your group having fun and working.  
During build week, 9/22-9/27 we will need even more help.  We need help with organizing, painting, sanding, shoveling, drilling, and raking to start.  We need help with childcare, food service, in the art tent, etc. etc. etc.  You don’t have to know how to use tools.  It doesn't matter what you are good at, we can use you.  
We are running three shifts a day... 8:00-noon is AM, 12:30-5:00 is Mid, and 5:30-9:00 is PM.  You can work one, two, or all three shifts.  We’ll even feed you between shifts, with snacks in between meals.  
Workers during the Build Week are divided into two groups, skilled and unskilled.  Skilled workers know how to use a power circular saw.  Unskilled workers do not have that experience.  There is an age requirement.  Children under 10 are not allowed on the construction site.  Age 10-13 may work with their parent or guardian.  Teens age 14-17 may work independently, but may not use any saws.  18 is considered an adult.
Here is how the shifts break down.  
Monday 9/21 We need 20 skilled and 20 unskilled for the Mid shift only.  This is to help set up and organize the site for the week.
Tuesday 9/22-Friday 9/25 It begins.  We need 70 skilled and 70 unskilled for the AM and Mid shifts.  85 and 85 for the PM shift.  That is 440 bodies every day for the first four days.
Saturday 9/26 We need 100 skilled and 100 unskilled for both the AM and Mid  shifts.   75 and 75 for the PM shift.  That is 475 bodies.
Sunday 9/27 We work the first two shifts only.  We need 75 skilled and 75 unskilled, for a total of 300 people
All told, that is over 2,600 people working 17 shifts.  We need your help.
Does your church or Sunday School class have groups that do volunteer work?  Does your company have community work days?  You can sign up as a group and work the same shifts and use it as a team building event.  We can provide you with a signup form for your group.  We love groups.
We will need your name, phone number, age (if under 18) and email.
To sign up to help, or to ask questions, please contact us thru kidsjoyland@gmail.com or kidsjoyland-out of the ashes on facebook, or contact Joanne Pinkerton, Volunteer Chairperson, at joanne@gatheringplacemj.com.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Donate to KJL online

Kids’ Joy Land now has online giving through the Lancaster County Community Foundation (LCCF).  This link will take you to the Kids' Joy Land Fund page.  LCCF is a local nonprofit that enables you to deduct  your gift to Kids’ Joy Land.  You will receive a tax receipt from LCCF for your gift.  (Please consult your tax consultant for specifics on tax deductions)

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Rebuild, Recreate, Rejoice

Rebuild, Recreate, Rejoice was selected as the name of the Kids’ Joy Land Capital Campaign.  The co-chairs of the campaign are Randy Wolgemuth, Betsy Wolgemuth, and Joshua Deering.  Tim Smedick is a special consultant.  Tim ran the successful Milanof Shock Library Campaign in 1999.  

The initial kickoff for Rebuild, Recreate, Rejoice was April 9th at the home of Randy and Betsy.  Up to now, over half of what we need is already raised, thanks to the community and business of Mount Joy.  We need to raise the other half.

Our goal for the campaign is $110,000, with a stretch goal of $140,000.  Any moneys raised over and above will be put in an account marked for future maintenance.

Our 12,000 square foot playground will be made of 95% recycled structural composite material that is guaranteed to last 50 years.  It is not inexpensive.  The cost for this material alone is over $92,000.  The components of the playground (swings, teeter totters, climbing wall, slides, digger, tunnels, etc) cost in excess of $35,000.  Professional services, design, consultations are over $38,000.  And we have a long way to go.



There are many way you can help support this project.  You can purchase a component… OR… You can do an individual / corporate / extended family sponsorship from $500.00 and up… OR… or you can make a donation for whatever you can.  All is appreciated and will be put to good use.  Details can be found in the “Become a KJL Super Hero” post.

Another way to help is to volunteer your time and/or tools.  We are looking for several leaders to head up certain aspects and committees of the build.  You can chair a committee, or enroll a friend/spouse/neighbor to help you co-chair one of the committees.  I can’t stress this enough… You don’t have to re-invent the wheel.  Everything is spelled out in the separate planning guides.

The chairs for Fundraising, Materials, Volunteers, Public Relations, and Special Features & Design are filled, but are all still looking for help.
 
Tools, Special Needs, Food, Construction Captains, General Contractor, and Child Care still need people to step up to the plate.  As mentioned before, every committee comes with a planning guide and time table to help you along the way.

This will all be spelled out in future posts.

Thanks for reading this far.

Ed Bartakovits, DC

Co-Chair Kids’ Joy Land

Create History!

Guest Blogger: Susan Heydt

It seems like a lifetime ago that Kids’ Joy Land was first built.  In fact, it actually was.  I was 8 months pregnant during the build week in mid-October, 1993 with my daughter, Kristin. 


The early nineties was a time of community projects.  The community members of Manheim and Elizabethtown, as well as other neighboring communities, had taken on the task of community-built playgrounds, and a small group of folks in Mount Joy saw the potential for improvement in the “Park Next to Kunkle.”  

The kickoff fundraiser was a Money Mile.  The vision was children and adults placing coins on the curb, end to end, for an entire mile down Main Street.  And while I no longer recall the exact total raised by that endeavor, we were successful in engaging the community in the excitement of our vision for both money, as far as the eye could see, as well as the vision for a playground designed by kids and for kids.

The 1993 playground was designed and built based on the history of Mount Joy. The Good Ship Mount Joy was the center design element in the first set of plans, and many a shipmate climbed its cargo net and whispered in its secret walkie-talkie pipes.  Most of those sailors had learned in school that Mount Joy is not named for a mountain, but for a vessel that brought settlers here from Europe.

Opening Day October 1993

A lot of history supported the building of the first Kids’ Joy Land, and the committee is working to continue that history as the new project progresses.

Susan's Scrapbook Page 


In March of 2013, the children at Donegal Primary and Donegal Intermediate Schools offered their ideas to Jane Holman, an architect with the same firm who designed the original playground.  Jane finished her day gathering information about our community, and developing the preliminary sketches for Kids’ Joy Land 2.0, by talking to a very important Mount Joy community member, the late Vera Albert.Vera’s passion for history inspired Jane, as she incorporated the design for the future playground, using the ideas of the current generation, while honoring the past.

Jane Holman from Leathers & Associates at Donegal Primary School


We’re halfway through the fundraising goals for the new playground, and the history books can now record a new motivation for this project.  The Rotary Club of Mount Joy has taken the wheel, and is navigating the project, “full steam ahead.” 

The volunteer committee members from the original build are now welcoming grandchildren into their lives, knowing that in a few short years they’ll be sharing stories of sailing ships, community support, and the love of Mount Joy with the next generation. 

Meanwhile, stay tuned here for tales from the past and stories of dreams for the future.  There’s a place for everyone in this latest historical project, and you won’t want to be left out of your place in the books.

Please feel free to post your comments and pictures.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Welcome to the Kids' Joy Land Blog - We're building a playground

Welcome to the blog. 

Our build date is set.  September 22-27, 2015.  Mark the dates.  Opportunities abound. Come out and join the fun.  Be a part of something big.

Here you will find everything  concerning the rebuilding the Kids' Joy Land playground in Mount Joy, PA.  Hopefully in an easy to find format.

Every event will have it's own post, including:

  1. History - where we came from, where we are
  2. Rebuild, Recreate, Rejoice Capital Campaign
  3. How to become a Super Hero for the Park
  4. Leaders - we are looking for a few good people to take leadership roles.  Everything is already spelled out, you don't have to re-invent the wheel.
  5. Volunteering - when and how.  We have 2,640 slots to fill
  6. Tools - we need to borrow tools, and lots of them
  7. Materials - All the "stuff" needed to build a playground
  8. Childcare - Help with the kids, while the parents build a playground
  9. Food - we need help to feed the volunteers
  10. Special Events - Each will have it's own post, including the Memorial Day Parade in a few weeks.  We are having a float, and need help and ideas.
That's it for now.  See ya soon.

The KJL Co-Chairs

Ed Bartakovits, DC  Joshua Deering,  Joanne Pinkerton