July 13, 2011
Vol 13 No 28
April 1, 2015
Lake Saint Louis playground earns national acclaim Recipe
11
Eggs-traordinary Easter feast
Around Town
3
Feature Section
4
School
8
Movie
9
Youth is a firefighter for the day
Zachary Blakemore and Gracie Gibson share a laugh at Zachary’s Playground in Lake St. Louis.
Submitted photos
Zachary’s Playground ranked No. 1 in America by children’s education organization The City of Lake Saint Louis partnered with Unlimited Play and the St. Charles County Disability Resource Board to It was just a run of the mill morning and Natalie Blakemore build Zachary’s playground which is accessible to children of all abilities. Zachary’s Playground, located at 8392 Orf Road, was flipping through the posts on Facebook. Blakemore soon stumbled upon an article titled: The Top 50 opened in 2007 and features a castle and boat theme structure, swings, music section, water spray pad, climbing net and U.S. Playgrounds. Blakemore and her organization, Unlimited Play, have con- slides. Honoring the creed of no child deserves to be left on the structed playgrounds around the area so it’s easy to understand sidelines, Unlimited Play is a non-profit organization that her interest in the piece. builds universally-accessible play“When I saw (the article) I grounds to promote health by prothought I would scroll through it viding the freedom of play for all just to see,” Blakemore said. children and families. The majorBlakemore continued to scroll ity of playgrounds around the world past stops in Idaho, Maryland, and deny children, adults and even VetLouisiana among the many others. erans with disabilities the opportuWaiting at the bottom of the page nity for recreation, enrichment and and holding on to the No. 1 posisocial interaction which other peotion was Zachary’s Playground. Lople enjoy. cated in Lake Saint Louis, Zachary’s It was Blakemore’s son Zachary Playground is Unlimited Play’s flagwho provided the original inspiraship project and earned the status tion. Zachary suffers from a rare geof the No. 1 playground in America netic central nervous system disease by the Early Childhood Education (Pelizaeus Merzbacher Disease) that (ECE) Zone, an organization cre- Zachary’s Playground earned the status of the No. 1 playground in confines him to a wheelchair or asated to be an informative hub for America by the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Zone, an organization created to be an informative hub for those involved with the teaching sistive walking device. But like all those involved with the teaching of of young children. children, Zachary loves to play. young children. “There are many families that need “When I got to the top ten I a playground like this, it’s exciting and overwhelming,” Blakethought, ‘No way,’” Blakemore said. “I was more than surprised.” Here is what the Early Childhood Education had to say about more said. “We didn’t have the intentions of it getting like this.” Unlimited Play has picked up the pace on its projects. With Zachary’s Playground: “Dedicated to the founder’s son, Zachary’s Playground is a truly inclusive playground that is acces- seven playgrounds already established, including in Cottleville, sible to everyone, from the highest slide to the lowest play panel. O’Fallon and Wentzville, it foresees five more in 2015 with onThere are swings for every age and ability, a splash pad for fun wards to another 13 in locations in Texas, Illinois, Arkansas and in the water, braille activity boards, and a climbing net with cus- others. “We wanted Zach’s Playground to be a destination and draw tom seats. The music section of the playground provides audible stimulation and encourages creativity while the castle and boat national attention to the need of inclusive playgrounds,” Blakethemed play areas encourage imaginative play and pretending.” more said. “This is not just another milestone.”
By Brett Auten
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