Harmony Playground - Because every child deserves a chance to play

CLAYTON — The sound of children laughing and playing can soften the hardest of hearts, and even in today’s political climate, making sure all children have safe places to play is a place where people can come together.

That’s the idea behind the Harmony Playground, planned for East Clayton Community Park.

“Harmony Playground is envisioned as an inclusive playground where children and guardians of all abilities can play and learn together,” Dean Penny, chairman of the Clayton Community Recreational Foundation’s board of directors, said. “The idea for this playground originated from a small group of citizens, some of who had family members with mobility or intellectual challenges. Clayton Town Councilmen Michael Grannis and Butch Lawter got involved, and along with Larry Bailey, the director of parks and recreation for the Town of Clayton, brought the project to the Clayton Community Recreational Foundation, to see if it was a project that the Foundation was interested in assisting with.”

Supporting the project was a slam dunk for the foundation.

“The CCRF board fully supported the efforts to make this project a reality,” Penny said. “Johnston County is a tremendous place to live, work, and to raise a family, and the CCRF Board believes that adding Harmony Playground to our community will significantly enhance the quality of life for all of our citizens for generations to come. As such, (we) took over the lead role in fundraising, design and implementation of the project in the Fall of 2017.”

There are places to play in the area already, but the Harmony Playground is more than just a set of swings.

“Someone might ask, ‘why is a playground so important?’ More than 300,000 people live within 20 miles of this site, and more than 40,000 live with various disabilities — including 4,000 children with physical or mental challenges,” Penny said. “This playground will provide an opportunity for each of these, along with able-bodied people to play together. Research has shown that those children that can learn to overcome challenges through

play, have a much higher chance of growing up to be more productive adults. Harmony Playground will provide an opportunity for the youth of our community to grow up as higher achieving adults, thus enhancing our community for generations to come.”

The completed Harmony Playground will include six unique play areas:

· Active Play — a multi-level play area, with a fort structure that provides for active play in a variety of ways, on multiple levels. Each level will be fully accessible, and the play components will include climbing, slides and bridges.

• Creative Play — an area with sand, water, and equipment that will spur the creative abilities of children. This area will have a construction theme, and will provide opportunities to build and create using basic materials.

• Quiet Play — an area with a large “oodle” swing, along with “bee springer” riders and a log/tunnel apparatus for climbing and crawling. This area is aimed at allowing children the opportunity to explore, but while also allowing for quieter play.

• Music — The N.C. State University Parks Scholars Class of 2019 have designed and created a series of musical components to allow children to create their own music using ordinary items.

• Swings — An area with traditional swings.

• Super-Nova — One of the most popular playground equipment pieces in new playgrounds that provides the opportunity for active play.

As is the case with most people who find themselves at the front of a charitable project, Penny has a personal motivation to see the playground come to life.

“I have enjoyed the privilege of being born and raised in Clayton, as well as the benefit of raising my own children here,” he said. “I have witnessed firsthand how great this community is. Clayton, and Johnston County, have grown tremendously, and the needs of this community to enhance the quality of life we enjoy have grown also. I want my grandchildren to have a place to play, where they can also learn how to grow physically, and mentally, and to appreciate the uniqueness of every person. In addition, I want Clayton to be a place where children, of all abilities and challenges, can learn and overcome challenges through high quality play.”

So far, the foundation has raised $750,000 of its $1.2 million goal towards the project. As it turns out, this month features several opportunities to help get the project over the finish line.

The official groundbreaking is set for October 12 at 10 a.m. at East Clayton Community Park, the Harmony Golf Tournament is scheduled for October 18 at the Neuse Golf Club in Clayton and the CCRF’s annual gala is set for October 19 at the Farm at 42 in Selma.