More great things are happening with your Community Playground Project. We appreciate the diligent efforts of all the playground supporters, we were able to get the City of Ava noticed in the nationwide “We Hear You America” Campaign held by Reader’s Digest. The City of Ava was chosen as 1 of 100 cities to receive $1,000.00 towards the betterment of our community, which was graciously donated to the playground fund by Mayor Leon Harris.
The Reader’s Digest RV arrived in town on Wednesday, February 9th, and presented the check to the Mayor and playground General Coordinator, Jessica Jenkins. Several playground core committee members and playground supporters were at the Ava Performing Arts Building to meet the Reader’s Digest crew and show their appreciation for choosing Ava as a winner. Following the brief presentation ceremony, several supporters and the RD crew headed over to Ava Drug where the crew was pleasantly surprised. “Being in that place felt like we took a time machine back into the 50’s, it was SO AMAZING! Not only was this a drug store a full pharmacy for the residents, but it also included an amazing soda bar, sandwiches, and $0.05 for ice cream! The owner, David Norman, was so gracious with our visit, he insisted that lunch and ice cream was on him. THANK YOU to Mr. Norman, you gave us amazing experience and were so happy to have been able to meet you! All in all, this stop was truly a “Gem of Americana”…” is what RV crew member Jay had to say. More about their visit can be read on the Reader’s Digest website.
Warm weather is just around the corner and naming of the playground will take place now that the kids are back in class. Current fund raising efforts are well underway and we’re excited to see this project start to take off.
Core Committee meetings were cancelled the past two weeks due to Mother Nature, but we are excited to get back to the drawing board this week. Our regularly scheduled meeting for Thursday evening was moved to Tuesday night, since several of the core were invited to present at the Ava R-1 School Board meeting this Thursday night. Regular weekly meetings will be held on Thursday nights at the Life Church from 5-7:30pm. To find out more information about the playground, contact Jessica Jenkins @ 417-343-5703 or visit the playground website at www.avaplayground.com.
