by Dennis Dalman
An all-inclusive playground at Lions Community Park in Sartell will be welcomed not just by children with physical challenges but by their parents, their grandparents, their friends and their caregivers.
That’s the opinion of Cari L. Hansen whose 8-year-old son, Daniel, loves that park but who has difficulty accessing the playground features. His wheelchair often gets stuck in the sand.
Hansen is one of several parents and other who have given input into how the new playground can be designed to benefit children even with the most serious physical challenges. There will be 12 pieces of specially designed playground equipment at the playground, such as swings, a slide and a merry-go-round.
Daniel is the only child of Bret and Cari Hansen of Sartell, who are both special-education teachers in the St. Cloud School District. Their son was born prematurely with physical and cognitive disabilities and must use a walker and a wheelchair. Unable to talk, Daniel communicates well with a talking device.
“The all-inclusive park will be so much better!” said Cari said. “We live very close to Lions Park and bring Daniel there, and sometimes his care nurses (will) bring him there.”
For Bret Hansen, Lions Community Park holds a special place in his heart. He grew up in Sartell and helped clear brush from the area near Pinecone Road and across from city hall. That is where the handicapped-accessible park was created by the Sartell Lions almost three decades ago.
An all-inclusive playground is one at which children who are physically challenged, including those in wheelchairs, can interact socially and play together on what will be a rubbery non-slip surface.
It will be designated as a regional playground park, meaning that children from anywhere are welcome to play there.
“It will be so nice that parents and grandparents will find the park easier to use, too,” Cari said, “because right now they sometimes have a tough time navigating on the sand lot, especially when trying to help their children in walkers and wheelchairs. And improved safety will be so important, too. For everyone.”
Cari described Daniel as “a really happy boy who even though he has trouble communicating because of disabilities, is very, very smart.”
She praised the support from Sartell for both her son and for the park.
“The support we’ve received from Sartell has been just amazing,” she said. “As they say, it takes a village. Everybody seems to know Daniel and love him – teachers, the people at Coborn’s, the people at our church (Celebration Lutheran). They have all been so supportive of Daniel.”
Cari said the playground, when completed, will be a big improvement in so many ways for people of any and all abilities.
“Daniel will be able to bring his friends, his cousin and family,” she said. “He loves being around other people.”
Lions’ project
Three area Lions clubs are combining forces for the regional all-inclusive park in Sartell – the clubs in Sartell, St. Stephen and LeSauk Township.
The St. Joseph Lions Club has also decided to contribute some money to the project through a couple of its weekend brat sales at the St. Joseph Meat Market.
The estimated cost of constructing the playground is $400,000. The local Lions clubs have applied for a grant of $100,000 from Lions International to cover part of that cost.
The City of Sartell and the Sartell-St. Stephen School District are also partners in the project that will, along with the Lions clubs, provide input in designing the amenity.
Lions clubs throughout the world have for many decades taken on projects to help challenged people, especially those who are sight-impaired or blind. The clubs fund and promote leader dogs and eyeglass recycling, as well as a wide variety of civic projects such as scholarships, clean-ups, Adopt a Highway, buckthorn removal, Christmas tree collections and countless ways to help people in need.
In 2004, the Sartell Lions club created Lions Community wooded acreage across the road east of city hall, putting in trails wide enough for wheelchairs, trail handrails and other amenities, including a playground. The playground is popular, but unfortunately it was not designed for special-needs children.
The nearest inclusive playground is 60 miles from Sartell, said Sartell Lions Club President Stu Giffin, adding there is an estimated 200 children living in Sartell who have special needs.
Sartell resident and intrepid volunteer Dennis Molitor has agreed to lead a project to construct a “Recognition Display” near the inclusive playground. It will contain a storyboard, as well as names of major donors who helped make the playground a reality. Anyone donating more than $1,000 will be recognized on the display. Donor levels are Gold ($1,000), Platinum ($5,000) and Diamond ($10,000).
An upcoming fundraiser will be held Monday, July 25: A “Golf for the Playground” event at Blackberry Ridge Golf Course in Sartell. It will be an 18-hole format with dinner and awards to follow the golfing.
People who would like to donate can send a check made out to The Waters Church, 1227 Pinecone Road N., Sartell, MN 56377. On the memo line of the check, write “Inclusive Playground.” The Waters Church has agreed to be the fiscal agent for the donations.
Checks can also be sent to the Sartell Lions, P.O. Box 7, Sartell, Minnesota; or sent or brought to Liberty Bank, 198 Pinecone Road N., Sartell, MN 56377.
People can also donate via Go Fund Me, which can be found online at “Sartell Inclusive Playground Project.”
Donations for the playground project are tax-deductible.
Daniel Hansen of Sartell loves to swing and play at Lions Community Park in Sartell. He is the son of Cari L. and Bret Hansen. Cari said the family is thrilled the park will eventually have a regional all-inclusive playground, making the playground more accessible and safer for all park-goers.
