By Nick Mccormack
Special Review Writer
An early snow smatters the ground and about a dozen spectators can be seen pulling up their collars to block the stiff breeze, but young Zander Schons is smiling ear to ear.
Zander has just learned that he, along with many other individuals like him, will finally have a place to play that was designed with them in mind.
Through the brisk morning Nov. 1 Orion Township Parks and Recreation broke ground at Friendship Park for the new special needs accessible park that will open in the spring.
This project has been in the making for a while now, accumulating cash from a wide range of fundraising events such as the Let Them Play Music festival back in August, the Cut-a-thon at Prime Designz Salon in Rochester and several others.
Kristi Schons, Zander’s mother, has been watching the project grow since the beginning.
‘I brought up that there was a need for it to Kim and Stacy (other activists) and it just blossomed from there,? she said.
Kimberly Casper and Stacy Blaine of local nonprofit Sister Souls were tasked with raising $50,000 by August 31 in order to receive the grant for the park. They found themselves happily over quota having hit close to $60,000 by the deadline.
Parks Director Aaron Whatley says that the extra funding will be put towards an additional play element along with a full-size changing table for the accessible bathroom, while the primary funding will be going towards the main attraction: two wheelchair swings.
‘The new swing is a flat-base swing so that the individual does not have to transfer from their chair, they can just wheel on and have fun from there,? Whatley said.
After a whole summer of hard work, the ceremonial shovels were driven into the earth last Saturday, and Zander’s smile jumped from face to face, serving as a joyous preview of next spring.
‘It is one of the most fulfilling things I have seen in my time as township supervisor. Literally every segment of our community has stepped up,? Supervisor Chris Barnett said.