Franklin Ave. Playground Ready to Use

The Franklin Avenue Playground Committee worked for over two years to raise money and plan the replacement of the playground at Franklin Avenue Elementary School in Pearl River.

Along the way, they mixed traditional efforts with creative fundraisers such as a wrestling night at Pearl River High School and the creation of a world record breaking ice cream sundae in the Central Avenue Field. 

They tore down the old playground in September and spent this past weekend installing the new one, which is ready for business today. In fact, a few children already got to try it out Sunday afternoon.

Donna Warren and Jean Beckerle expressed their thanks for the many contributors to the project in this statement:

"Although it has taken two-plus years to accomplish our goal, it has truly been a community effort for the betterment of our children. We want to thank our committee members, our volunteers and our sponsors. We could not have done it without them. Our commitee members have worked countless hours and taken time away from their lives and families to make this work. Our sponsors ahve been so generous in both effort and money. We are humbled and grateful for everyone's help. We wish the children of Franklin Avenue Elementary fun and happiness with their new playground."

Many of the contributors have ties to the community and the school. For example, Joe and Tracey Eichner of Keystone Landscaping both attended Franklin Ave. Elemenatry and they still live nearby. Tom Warren of the playground committee said they were a tremendous help with the project. 

There is still work to be done. Four of the six swing bays had to be sent back because the were the wrong color, so the 12 swings the playground will eventually have are not in place yet, but everything else was just waiting for the rain to let up for use. 

For more on the last steps of the process, see this report on Patch from the day the old playground was taken down. 

The following were major sponsors to the project, though Donna Warren said the list of others in the community who donated prices, money and their time is much longer and that the committee wanted them to all know they are appreciated. 

• Beckerle Lumber
• Keystone Landscaping
• Saetre & Sons Construction
• Dance Central
• Raffaele's Pizza
• A.J.'s Catering
• Prudential Joyce Realty
• TD Bank
• JM Hartel & Co. 
• Better Homes and Gardens
• O'Connell & Riley
• Allstate (Frank Perri)
• GKG Certified Public Accountants
• Nelson Metals
• Griffith Agency
• Key Bank
• NeighborX Pharmacy at Pearl River
• Yogurt Sensations
• The Saloon
• Tom Clifford Martial Arts
• Children's Dentistry of the Palisades (Dr. Reddy and Dr. Fisher)
• Luigi O'Grady's Deli
• Dunkin Donuts of Pearl River
• Gary's Gutters
• A-Z Rentals of West Nyack