Staff Writer
FORT FAIRFIELD – When making plans for her 10th birthday party, Sarah Beaulieu – daughter of Stephanie and Dale Beaulieu of Fort Fairfield – decided she wanted to do something nice for her hometown. So, rather than ask for presents, she encouraged partygoers to donate money that will help purchase playground equipment for the new Riverside Park project.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
Sarah Beaulieu, left, of Fort Fairfield, presents Town Manager Dan Foster with $303 that was generated from her recent 10th birthday party. Rather than ask for presents, Beaulieu encouraged partygoers to donate money that will help purchase playground equipment for the new Riverside Park project. Tentative plans for the park, which will be located on the North Caribou Road, include picnic shelters, a bathroom facility, horseshoe pits, sand/volleyball court, parking area and a walking trail. The total project will cost $147,559 – plus some playground equipment – and will be completed prior to the Maine Potato Blossom Festival next July. Beaulieu is the daughter of Stephanie and Dale Beaulieu.
“I just thought it would be a good idea to help out by giving money to the town for the playground,” said Beaulieu, who turned 10 Oct. 12. “I asked my family and friends to bring money instead of presents and they did.
“I was really surprised when we counted out the money,” said Beaulieu. “It was a lot more than I thought it would be.”
Last Wednesday, Beaulieu presented Town Manager Dan Foster $303 … cash.
“[Her actions] are indicative of the type of volunteerism and type of activity that I see from citizens in Fort Fairfield,” said Foster. “Even though we’re in a time period where things are very difficult right now, we continue to have people who are willing to step up and either provide their time, personal resources or money and help the community.
“There’s a real sense of wanting to be a part of something to make this a more livable community for all of us,” he said, “and I think what Sarah has done just exemplifies that.”
Foster said the town became owners of the property – located on the North Caribou Road – back in 1994 after “back-to-back floods.”
“There were residences all through there which were demolished and taken out because of the damage from the floods,” he said. “We’re limited to what we can do with the property, but we’ve actually had a plan from Northern Maine Development Commission from 1996 to utilize the space for recreation purposes.
“It’s only been this past year that we have really stepped it up. We applied for and received a $50,000 Community Development Block Grant, the Council has agreed to put in some additional funds, plus there’s a fair amount from in-kind services in terms of the Public Works Department doing a lot of the work,” said Foster. “We have other organizations that are looking to participate such as the Rotary Club to help cover some of the additional things that we want to do, and then we have something like this … a donation from a 10-year-old that comes out of the blue. The project is generating a lot of community interest.”
The Riverside Park project had been on the town’s “wish list” for years, Foster said.
“It came off the wish list last year, and we put together a committee. We had some citizens that came together, plus some staff, and we came up with a game plan,” he said. “We submitted the grant application and received the $50,000 which really gave us the funds to move forward.”
Tentative plans for the park include picnic shelters, a bathroom facility, horseshoe pits, sand/volleyball court, parking area and a walking trail.
The total project will cost $147,559 – plus some playground equipment – and will be completed prior to the Maine Potato Blossom Festival next July.
“There are some things we’ll be able to do this winter,” said Foster. “We’ve got picnic shelters to build, picnic tables to build, so any downtime we have, we’ll be able to do that in-house at the shop.”
Foster said it’s wonderful when local children take ownership in a community project.
“We’ve had kids with the 21st Century Program which is fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-graders build a bench for this project. They took that on by themselves,” he said. “We’ve had Eagle Scouts come and they want to build a couple of the shelters. These are unsolicited … its folks coming to us saying, ‘We understand this is going on. How can we help?’ People want to be a part of this and want to make it work and I couldn’t be happier.”
Beaulieu and her mother will meet with the town’s recreation director to help decide what playground equipment the town should purchase.
“We do a lot of things that way,” said Foster. “We bring citizens together to talk about what they’d like to see and how they envision a project happening. It’s about the community, ‘What do you want for your community?’ and Sarah and Stephanie have an interest in this project, so I’d like to have them involved.”
Beaulieu said she’s looking forward to being able to play on the new equipment at Riverside Park next summer.
“Right now I play at the Fort Fairfield Elementary School,” she said, “but I’m excited to eventually play on new things at the park. It will be fun to play there knowing that I helped raise some of the money.”
