Splashing towards success

River Bourgeois making playground better for all

I am so proud at how hard our Cape Breton communities work to provide services for its residents.

In this case, I am looking at the rural community of River Bourgeois in Richmond County where residents have come together to provide their children with a recreational area that will have modern equipment to make it safe and enjoyable for all.

Just this past weekend the River Bourgeois Splash Pad Initiative organizers held one of its first fundraising events of the spring with its vendors’ market and spaghetti dinner at the Tara Lynn Community Centre in River Bourgeois. All the proceeds will go to the Splash Pad Initiative project.

If you are wondering what the Splash Pad Initiative is, here is some background. Over the last few years the community has been working hard to restore the playground area.

The community’s first phase included the fundraising and installation of a new tennis court. Then they worked on the next phase which was purchasing playground equipment. Later this spring, the group will be setting up the new equipment in the playground.

The group was fortunate when purchasing the equipment, receiving some price discounts and some needed funding thanks to the 75th anniversary of the Little Tykes company and also with Canada 150 incentives.

These two factors lowered the cost from $70,000 to $35,000. The organization raised this amount through fundraising, donations and grants, which is an amazing feat for a small rural community.

When these two phases were completed they moved to the next phase, which is raising funds to get a Splash Pad for the children. Organizers hope to raise $145,000 to cover the cost which will recycle water, necessary because of the community’s water supply. The organization has already raised $10,000 for the project through a variety of fundraisers and donations and grants.

They still have a long way to go in raising the funds but they are checking into other options. It may be possible to do the Splash pad in sections, allowing them to set up this feature more quickly and at a smaller cost per phase.

I am proud to see River Bourgeois working together to build a better community for their families.

Ann Marie Yorke has worked closely with the Richmond County tourism industry and has been a tourism information officer in St. Peter’s for 15 years. She looks forward to your comments at annmarieyorke@hotmail.com.