Lions Bay School Playground Launches!

Wednesday, 10 September 2008 15:10 Written by Pieter Dorsman

On the first day of school, September 2, months of planning, negotiating and fundraising came to fruition with the launch of our new playground at the Lions Bay School. Many had told us it could not be done within the short time frame we had allowed ourselves: a new playground would take years to realize. Yet, with the help of all parents, the school staff, the Lions Bay community and the school district’s facilities department we were able to pull it off and are now very proud to have a state-of-the-art playground. And the new structure and swings will meet all new safety regulations and are designed to last us many years. The Lions Bay spirit worked its magic again.

It was encouraging to have such strong support from many village residents who would come up to me and offer help and advice. My favorite one was one of the larger contributors who said, “Pieter, I will help out because I know how difficult it is, the moment you start raising money, people will duck for cover!”.

The most rewarding part however is to see all the children on the new playground area to play, swing and climb, excited and enthusiastic, day after day. Together with the forested area we are offering them a playing and learning experience second to none.

A big thanks goes out to the PAC members who worked so hard to bring this project to fruition, our former vice-principal Amber Pascual and the School District’s facilities department, in particular Gary Chords.

And of course, one more round of applause for our key contributors:

Stu and Marilyn Blusson

Bob and Carmen Dickinson

BC Ministry of Public Safety

Whistler Blackcomb Foundation

Kiewit & Sons

Lions Bay Playschool

Aquilini Investment Group

Seaspan International Ltd.

Howe Sound Marine

K. & S. Chowscano

P. & I. Dorsman