‘Wings’ help inclusive playground take flight

September 5, 2018

It was an emotional day for Christina McNally.

The Clinton mother of two said it was while she was visiting a playground in Karns — an inclusive playground — she realized, “that children who weren’t like mine needed a place to play.”

That was the spark for the inclusive playground that broke ground last Wednesday.

But sometimes it’s not so much the destination as it is the journey itself that makes something special.

McNally said she found a way to “love and serve her community, to love and serve God,” by channeling her energy towards the inclusive playground.

“I went out into the community and I cried on you guys and a lot of you said, ‘Yes,’” McNally said Wednesday morning.

And while McNally carried the torch for the playground — be it with tears, pleas, belief, and a stubbornness that refusal to take no for answer — things began falling in place.

South Clinton Park was created in 1988. It was the first project Clinton City Manager Roger Houck worked on (as head of Park and Recreation).

“This park has been here 29 years and it’s held up very well,” he said Wednesday.

Due for refurbishing at a cost of around $75,000, the timing of McNally’s presentation to the city couldn’t have come at a better time.

The project had legs; it had a good beginning.

“But the project didn’t need legs,” she said. “It needed wings.”

The project received just that.

Milly’s Wings is the non-profit organization set up in honor of Amelia Erb, the daughter of Natalie and David Erb who suffered rare neurological conditions. “At the age of five, Amelia could not walk, talk, or eat independently,” Milly’s Wings Facebook page says.

But Amelia loved to swing. After her passing in 2015 Milly’s Wings began raising funds to provide playground swings that could be used by all children.

“She loved to swing,” David Erb said during Wednesday’s ceremony. “She had no constraints.”

The Erbs, through Milly’s Wings and through an All-State Insurance community grant became a large part of the process for the playground.

McNally had her “Wings.”

The City of Clinton applied for and received a grant for $115,000 for the playground.

The Clinton and Norris Lions clubs also stepped forward. They joined forces and sponsored a $100,000 Lions Club International Foundation grant.

The Lions clubs presented the check at the ground breaking.

Others stepped forward, too. Numerous businesses made large donations to the playground and an engraved brick campaign is underway until Oct. 1.

For additional information regarding the engraved brick campaign please contact Christina McNally at christina.marie.mcnally@gmail.com .

On a sunny Wednesday morning the inclusive playground took flight.

Through community, community organizations, and government agencies, the playground is becoming real.

“It comes from the people of the community,” Clinton Mayor Scott Burton said during opening remarks. “And that shows there is a need.”

The website for the playground has the following mission statement:

“We have more than 1,000 school age children in our city limits and approximately 10,000 in the county, and nearly 20-percent of them are considered special needs or disabled.

“We have designed a playground that allows children of all physical ability to participate in active play, but the additional consideration comes at an additional cost that the city is unable to fully take on. We are reaching out to our community to help fund the finishing touches on our park. So many of our children experience life separate from others because of a physical handicap, sensory issue, or impairment, and it is our hope that this playground can be a bridge from separation to inclusion.”