Playground Shows Signs of Vandalism

Having a small amount of free time to spend in the village one afternoon this week, my children and I decided to visit the Sheri Gagnon Memorial Park Playground on Mill Street.

We had spent many days at this playground when the children were younger. Parents and children met there frequently and always after story time at the Raymond Village Library. In fact, my closest friends today are families I met at the library and playground. We loved it there despite the inevitable battles over the swings and the falls off the now missing merry-go-round.

The park is a wonderful place in town as it has true meaning behind it. The land on which it sits was donated by the family of a woman who died of skin cancer at a very young age and left behind a three-year-old son. Lots of blood, sweat and tears followed this donation. Many members from the community, both young and old, were committed to providing Raymond with a place where preschoolers could play. Fundraisers were held and over the course of several years and many stages of implementation, the park now holds baseball fields, a concession stand, a batting cage, playground equipment, swings, a train, plane, club house, castle, park benches and picnic tables with shelters overhead to protect from the summer’s penetrating sun.

I was filled with nostalgia as I watched my children running to different areas of the playground this week. They are now tall enough to easily reach the monkey bars, and running up the slides is no longer a challenge. They giggled at how it used to feel so big to them, and I recalled the many good times as well as the bruised knees and unsuccessful attempts made at the very same monkey bars.

Despite the fun we were having strolling down memory lane, we were also overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness. The park was littered with trash, which we collected, and cigarette butts. The roof to the clubhouse was completely missing. The hand-crafted cedar airplane was turned upside down, having crash-landed onto the two wooden diggers, recent popular additions to the park but now broken and useless. The kids were hoping the wind blew it over but unless there has been a hurricane in the past week that I happened not to notice, this was the work of vandalism.

The park has existed for nearly 15 years and is increasingly subjected to such violence. After noticing deliberate damage to the playground three years ago, a group called the Friends of the Park Committee was formed. This group of dedicated individuals has spent many hours of its time and talent to maintain and improve the park. Members meet at least once a year to perform any needed staining, painting, raking, required repair and general maintenance. These repairs are very time consuming, expensive and all done by volunteers. The committee is very discouraged and frustrated by the continued vandalism. Town officials have been notified on numerous occasions but without a police force, not much has been done to stop this. Discussions have also been had about installing security cameras and having sheriffs walk through occasionally, but neither has yet to happen. In the meantime, our beloved playground is rapidly deteriorating.

Recently, discussions have taken place regarding ways to discourage troubling behavior throughout town. A popular tree with a rope swing was cut from the Mill Street dam where kids congregated and trouble brewed. Danger was lurking and efforts have been taken to restrict kids from hanging out where they can cause trouble and/or get hurt. However, monitoring areas such as this and the playground have proven difficult. People are still grouping and the vandalism has gotten worse. Obviously, Raymond needs to take more aggressive actions to solve this problem. I feel it is imperative that the current and future young families are able to enjoy the same type of playground we did; one that was safe and clean.

Conservation Commission Requests Input

Exciting progress continues to be made by the Raymond Conservation Commission. Recognizing that Raymond will continue to grow as long as it is a desirable community in which to live, a Comprehensive Plan was developed in 2004. The goal of the plan was to study and anticipate change through a process of comprehensive planning. Throughout this process, the primary responsibility has been to Raymond residents and existing stakeholders as well as to the generations that will follow in their footsteps.

The Raymond Conservation Commission was given the task of preserving and increasing open space, a task they have aggressively pursued. Its first priority was to evaluate what types of land currently exists and through use of new technology, produce maps depicting these areas. By completing an inventory of our current natural resources, high value conservation areas were identified. These target points were broken down into six categories: recreation, water quality, habitat, land productivity, public health and safety, and scenic and cultural resources. The maps show where the highest value areas are located and what parts of town have the best conservation value.

With the inventory and mapping of our special places completed, the committee is now ready to develop strategies for how best to protect and preserve the most important areas in Raymond. This is a critical point in the process and the conservation commission needs input from all Raymond landowners on which areas of town they believe are most important and need protection. Most people were drawn to Raymond due to its natural beauty and resources. Unfortunately, unless concentrated efforts are taken to preserve this beauty, Raymond will look very different in the future.

A public workshop is targeted for early December at which time input will be gathered. A plan will then be presented at town meeting for approval. Details will be forthcoming about this workshop and I encourage you to attend and express your opinion. The conservation commission also needs active and energetic members to push these efforts forward and help conservation in Raymond keep pace with the town’s rapid growth. Meetings are held on the last Tuesday of each month in the Broadcast Studio at 7 p.m. For more information, please contact John Rand at 655-4277 or jbr@fairpoint.net.

This Week’s Happenings

• Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6 and voting will be held at the Jordan Small Middle School from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

• Selectmen will meet Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Broadcast Studio. All are welcome to attend.

• Ski and Snowboard Sign-Ups will be held Wednesday, Nov. 7 from 6-8 p.m. at the Jordan Small Middle School. Volunteers are also needed and asked to sign up as well. You need not be a skier to volunteer as there are plenty of jobs available for those who do not ski. The program is held on Wednesdays for students in grades 3-8. Skiers/boarders in grades 1 and 2 can also participate but must have a parent chaperoning in the program.

• The Beautification Committee will meet hursday, Nov. 8 at 9 a.m. at the Broadcast Studio.