Enjoy a Spring Swing for Fullerton

has been a part of Mary Lawlor and Claire Miano’s lives for as long as they can remember. In fact, they met there as toddlers and have been best friends since.

This past June they introduced Brooke Parker, 12, to Zelley Playground when she moved to Moorestown. The three have been best friends ever since.

“She was the missing piece of our puzzle,” said Mary, 12.

So it is no wonder the three decided they wanted to help fundraise for the .

“We were just talking about how much we missed Zelley,” said Claire, 13.

The girls brainstormed ideas and came up with Spring Swing to be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 9 in the open field on Linden Street next to where the new playground will be built.

The girls, with the help of their parents, have planned a day of crafts and activities, including an Easter Egg hunt for children 8 and younger, relay races, pictures with the Easter Bunny and a balloon animal artist who will be at the event from 10 to 11 a.m. While most activities are free, pictures with the Easter Bunny and chances to guess the number of Jelly Belly beans will cost money. There will also be refreshments available to purchase. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Friends of Fullerton.

The event has been a team effort with neighbor Amanda Fletcher and her class stuffing 600 of the 800 eggs for the hunt, second-grade students in Dayna Hendrickson’s South Valley class drawing decorations for the event and parents calling sponsors for donations.

In fact, the response has been incredible said Teresa Lawlor, who said Mart Pretzels, Dietz & Watson, Acme, ShopRite and Peter Pan have all donated.

“I have been blown away by the response,” she said.

And she is equally impressed with the effort her daughter and her friends have put into Saturday’s event.

“When I first heard I thought ‘Wow, that’s a neat thing.’ Then I thought uh-oh,” said Teresa Lawlor. “I was a little bit overwhelmed, but everybody has come through.”

In addition to coming up with the idea, the girls created and distributed fliers throughout their neighborhood and on Main Street.

It has been a fun experience for the girls, who can’t wait for the new park to be built.

They are not too old for the playground, they say.

“We were sad to see it go,” said Brooke.