‘Stepping Stones’ a safe place for kids to play

By RICHARD A. ROSS

COCHECTON CENTER, NY — After three years of community planning and fundraising, a new playground will soon become a safe haven where kids can romp and play.

According to Melissa Rutledge of Damascus, PA and Tammy Powell of Lake Huntington, NY, both members of the Cochecton Center Community Center, when baseball games or fairs took place at Heinle’s Field in the past, many kids would play in the road in front of Heinle’s General Store.

“There was no place for them to go,” Rutledge said. The new playground on Route 52 came about through the community center’s tireless fundraising, which was boosted by the generosity of area businesses and residents. Sandy Daub of Cochecton Center coordinated the fundraising efforts, which included raffles, penny socials and pizza events. Proceeds from Family Fun Day celebrations also helped to defray the cost of the playground equipment, $14,000.

The play structure includes two slides, a rock climber, a telescope, a musical melody player and a series of towers. It is a part of Cochecton Center’s entry in this year’s Sullivan Renaissance contest. The entry is for the creation of a safe and attractive play area for children.

Volunteers Mike Attianese of Cochecton, Ralph Powell of Lake Huntington and Ed Boffa, Brian Heinle and Jeff Daub of Cochecton Center took care of the playground’s assembly. Dick Hofer’s Lumber donated mulch for the playground, and Sprig and Twig Nurseries in Damascus supplied plantings to adorn its perimeter.

On June 17, Rutledge, along with her children Travis, 7, and Macey, 3, as well as her niece, Sierra, 6, joined Powell to begin planting around the playground. A roof is on the way from the manufacturer, Little Tykes Corporation in Missouri.

Boffa and Attianese briefly interrupted the planting to dig posts for the playground’s fencing, which was about to be installed. Dena and Sam Smith along with Ralph Powell donated the fencing. Brian Heinle rototilled the planting area just outside of the fence.

The playground, “Stepping Stones,” takes its name from the proposed placement of stones with children’s handprints, which will be sold as a part of an ongoing fundraiser for the community center. Recently, prisoners from the Sullivan County Jail repainted the community center and the church in Cochecton Center. According to Doug Heinle, their work and deportment were highly commendable. Heinle and his wife Penny prepared a special luncheon for the inmates and ate with them.