If You Have a Hammer, Project Zelley Wants You to Hammer

There may still be snow on the ground, but progress is being made on the Zelley Park playground.

The Friends of Fullerton have been busy planning the park build, which will be held April 27 through May 1.

“We need approximately 750 adult volunteers to build this park,” said Dee Bertino, volunteer coordinator. “In addition to the actual park building, we will need volunteers to assist with tools, food and childcare.”

During the build, there will be three, four-hour shifts from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

“We are recruiting both skilled–those comfortable using a circular saw—and unskilled—you don’t want to use power tools,” said Bertino.

“As this is a park for kids, we definitely want children involved,” she added. “However, due to safety concerns, children under the age of 10 are not allowed on-site.”

There will be art activities and projects related to the park at the childcare site located at the Church Street Rec Center.

The guidelines for children working at the site:

• Ages 14-17: May work independently on a crew, but may not use power tools
• Ages 10-13: Must work alongside a parent or guardian
• Ages 0-9: Are not allowed on the site and must be checked into childcare

“We are asking each volunteer to sign up for a minimum of one, four-hour shift,” said Bertino. “We would love to see people getting teams together–either a work team, family team or neighborhood team.”

For those who don’t want to build, assistance will be needed with food and childcare. To volunteer, e-mail Dee Bertino.

Students at William Allen Middle School got into the spirit, donating $650 to Project Zelley.

“This was the first school to step up and support Project Zelley,” said Carolyn Bogart, vice chair of the project. “This isn’t just a neighborhood playground; we’re raising money for an .”

The students sold chances for the opportunity to pie a teacher. Chances were sold over a four-day period. In the end, 25 students were able to pie teachers.

The elementary schools will soon be participating in Pennies for the Park, with the class that collects the most, at each school, winning a pizza party.