Volunteer efforts spring up at Harrison Park

Published 1:22 pm Thursday, May 8, 2008

Cody Thacker, 6, David Surratt, 8, Fidel Contreras, 9, and Jared Thacker, 9, dig holes Saturday at Harrison Park to install a drip system for plants.

By TAMMY MALGESINI

The Hermiston Herald

With virtually an entire volunteer crew, Harrison Park is springing to life.

Ivan Anderholm, Hermiston Parks and Recreation director, said dirt first was turned at the park about two years ago and the facility has been used as an open playground and for soccer practices. The park is near Northwest 13th Street and West Madrona Avenue.

“The whole idea is we’re going to use volunteers to work on the park,” Anderholm said. “It’s basically all been volunteers except the concrete work and the parking those were done in-house with our staff.”

So far, an Eagle Scout project by Ryan Bell, neighborhood residents, Boy and Girl scouts, FFA members, churches and the police union have pitched in.

Mayor Bob Severson was impressed with the work crew.

“I think it’s great because they don’t really have anything in that area and there are lots of children,” he said. “With the neighbors working on it, they will take a real interest in it and a real ownership.”

With the installation of playground equipment last Saturday and finishing touches on Wednesday, area children and families will have more options when visiting the northwest neighborhood park.

Anderholm said Carlisle Harrison, for whom the park is named, has taken an interest in the city’s parks.

“He’s been an integral part of parks and recreation as a whole and parks in general in this area,” Anderholm said.

Anderholm said it was a no-brainer to name the park after Harrison.

“He volunteered his time to install the underground sprinkler system,” Anderholm said. “He made it happen.”

Anderholm also credits Jon Thacker, who lives in the neighborhood with his wife, Tiffany, and four sons.

“He was very active in promoting and working on the park too,” Anderholm said.

Tiffany Thacker said the idea was born out of need.

“When we first moved here, we’d play soccer in the back yard and all these kids would come over and play,” she said.

Tiffany often looked out her window at the large weed-infested area and asked her husband if something could be done to use the property.

I said, ?Jon, what are they doing with that big weedy area?’ because the kids didn’t have anywhere to play and they’d be out in the the streets,” she recalled.

The seed was planted and her husband picked up the ball and ran with it.

“I went to Ivan and told him we have this field that’s nasty and there’s a bunch of crap in it,” Jon said. “He said if someone was interested we could work together and build a park.”

Jon brought a group of Boy Scouts to a Parks and Recreation Committee meeting to discuss the possibility of building a neighborhood park.

“They were all dressed up and they said they’d be willing to work on the project,” Thacker said. “They said they would support the project right then and there.”

Jon said having fellow neighbor Rod Hardin on the committee has been helpful.

“Having him in the corner has been a significant benefit,” Jon said. “He came out and helped, which was really nice.”

The Thackers also said safety concerns warranted the need for a park.

“On any given evening there will be 20-30 kids running around, playing in the street,” Jon Thacker said. “My interest was to build a park a safe place to have the kids play to get them out of the street.”

The Thackers are pleased with the progress.

“It’s pretty,” Jon said. “It was a terrible eyesore before just a nasty dead area.”

“It good to get our community together on something for our neighborhood. It’s been cool since the grass has been here I’ve seen a lot of people playing soccer until dark even adults,” Tiffany added.

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