What day and time did we decide?
In the Sun, it says the County is purchasing the additional land at Helen McCall park. We can talk about maybe being in on the planning of that space. SGB wrote me a great letter on her feelings of how to approach, I will print off and bring copies. Is that ok SGB?

Hummm. I suppose so, I guess I should have paid more attention to what I was writing!

My vote is for Thursday, too. We can just go next door if there is a problem. Ann at Cerulean's is supportive of what we are doing and so it shouldn't be an issue. I talked to her about our plans Friday night. So, either way, we have a place to sit... that's all I need, even if it's the floor!

__________________
You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

It seems like most people can make Thur. @ 12:00 better, so let's meet then-like you said- if it's too crazy, we can go next door. Who's in??

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

Thursday at 12. I won't call the Parks and Rec till after we meet on Thursday. SGB has some very good points that need to be discussed before we show up en masse!

I just talked with another one of the managers at the Market. She said that Cerulean's is where everyone usually has meetings, BUT she said if we feel comfortable coming to the Market and having it there, it's fine. Because it's the least busy time of the year, it's not a problem right now.

So, now after talking with 3 different managers, if no one knows about us being there on Thursday, I am going to fall on the floor laughing. If I do, someone grab the baby, PLEASE!!!!!!

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You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

I can come Thursday......lets get a park rollin!!!!!

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Grayt job OM- They may not remember us before the meeting....but they will after !! See y'all there

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

You go gulls!!!!

I had requested a lot of materials from several companies, operating in Florida, for playground equipment, surfacing, and acessory items.
One of the companies is much more attentive than all the rest. The rep from that company suggested that the Kaboom method of organizing the funding has been very beneficial to a lot of groups like this. She's worked with them a lot and claims it's a great process and that we should seriously look into applying. Of course, we must aquire the land by our own means, but after that they are supposedly pretty helpful and the one day build-out events work out really well, so says the rep.

BuMp....
Don't forget the meeting tomorrow at 12:00!!
Put your lipstick on ladies, we may have a little press !

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

I am 50/50- will call one of y'all tomorrow when the schedule gels a bit....

OK you hottie playground chickies---

How did the meeting go today? Will somebody please post or send me a message in between feeding offspring and other domestic duties!!!!

If I could keep my 6 month old from typing, I could get a message completed!

It was... busy. Sunny456 told us it would be and it was REALLY crowded. BUT it was other moms!!!! And as Ckhagen said, "with more baby carriers than I've ever seen!" It showed us that there are a lot of us out there that need community and a place to go. It made it difficult to focus. Too much noise fries my brain... which is why 3 kids has me loopy most of the time... and why I couldn't concentrate very well in there.

(BTW, Cerulean's was DEAD when I passed by. We shoulda gone there for focus sake. Oops!)

SGB, ckhagen & supermom26.2 accomplished a lot over in the corner of our table! I got to know Beachmom well. We were interviewed by the Daily News.... Can you tell that the others can describe the details better than I can right now.

We also picked up some moms from the library story time that came over after that. They want FLYERS!!!! I also know there's parents at Butler that are interested and just want to know the details.

Another woman who's a grandmother with custody of her 2 grandkids had just called Cindy yesterday about a playground and she was interested in getting a petition up and going. I talked to her at length this evening. Very cool woman . She wasn't at the meeting and doesn't do the e-mail thing, so we'll have to keep her up-to-date by phone.

Okay, baby boy's pissed off at me right now, so I've gotta end this one!

__________________
You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

ok...2 down, 1 more to go

OMG...!!...I have NEVER seen so many mommies and babies!!!

I knew there were a lot of us here...somewhere, but had no idea there were so many!!

As OM said, it was absolutely crazy at Watercolor Market today. Very hard to carry on a conversation, but lots of people now know what we are trying to do I think our next step is to try to meet with C. Meadows and see what we need to do. This is a grayt group of moms and I have really enjoyed meeting everyone.

I'm just in shock right now over the crowd that was there !!!

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

lol, I thought it started at 12:30... duh. That would be why I was late! I'm just now seeing the 12:00 thing. I need to start paying more attention.

Yeah, it was super-super crowded. I tried half a dozen times to start playgroups out here in the past couple years and it never worked. I'm convinced it must have been me because no one else seems to have that problem ;)

So... when we get that mailing list going, I think we'll have quite a crowd jumping on the wagon. In the meantime, a meeting with Ms. Meadows is necessary. After that maybe we'll have a little more direction. After we get some direction, then we can get some flyers put together (I'm a graphic designer B.C. and I can do that if we so choose).

Also... everyone needs to put together lists of the things they would most like to get out of this playground! That is number one priority for everyone right now. We can take all the lists and consolidate them later.

I nominate Morgan Sports Complex playground for the next meeting ;)

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CK

It was a little chaotic to say the least.
SGB is setting up appt with Cindy Meadows. We are trying to get before the parks and rec meeting. Everyone needs to do a top 10 list of what we want to be in the park so we know what size of land space will accomodate. Don't be shy. Maybe the field trips need to start right now to see what other playgrounds have in person and test them out!

I hope that Heather and her photographer were able to get pictures of the crowds of moms and babies and not just us! I really felt like we were at a baby convention! The growth of South Walton sure was evident at the Watercolor Market!

Heather, I know you are lurking - thank you for coming out and listening to our collective efforts on how to start a park! A lot of us are meeting each other for the first time. I'm sure by the time we have this park built, not only will we have a great place to go to, but there will be many friendships established by the seed of an idea as it grows into a community park!
Thanks again!

Yeah, but you also need a PLAYGROUND to have a playgroup, unless you have it at homes OR you end up in WaterColor Market, just like that group has done. It definitely demonstrated the need for a playground for all of us. The decibel level in that place was nutty. Can you imagine how it would be in a year or so with the exact same mommies with toddlers (instead of babies!) running around there? Chaos would reign.

JDarg, maybe we can have one of those drink carts that others were proposing on the original thread (about what we want in South Walton) at the park so we can have Happy Hour and playdates at the same time! I'd need a coffee cart, too!

__________________
You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

Yes, I feel very blessed to have met each and every one of you. SoWal rocks as a great place to meet wonderful friends in Internet Land and then to be able to meet them in person and enjoy them just as much!

__________________
You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

I haven't made it to either meeting yet, but I can't wait to meet you all. I have a 2yr. old and a 6 mos. old as well as 3 in school.

My sister-in-law was active in the development of a really cool playground on Signal Mtn., TN called the Pumpkin Patch. They had the children come up with the ideas and then worked with a playground designer to design it. The community members then built the structure over several weekends with a lot of donated materials, etc.

Have you guys already discusses this method? I believe this is what was done for the playground at Baytowne.

__________________
If you are lucky enough to live by the sea, you are lucky enough.

WOW! You are busy

We have discussed many ways to go, but I think we really need to know where the county stands on this and what plans they may have before we can get to that point. I do think it would be grayt if it could be something that brings the community together. There are so many of us that LIVE here, but we are all so spread out.

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

Come anyway! I have a 3 year old and a 6 month old, so we can conmiserate! I am bowing to you, as 3 keep me hopping right now.

__________________
You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

We made the paper!!

Grayt article in the "Daily News" today about our efforts. It also says the they (THANKS Cindy Meadows!!! )will be installing some temporary play equipment within the next 30 days As I understand it, there is a plan in place with funds designated to a building and developing a recreational facility, it's just a matter of land. They are trying to buy more land by Helen McCall, but that is not a done deal. Otherwise, we need a St. Joe or someone else to donate some land...

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

That's great news! We have a meeting set up with Cindy Meadows on the 21st. That's the earliest she had available. If everyone could post what they would like to see in the park/playground, I will compile the list to give to Cindy.

Congrats Gulls!!! You're moving right along!

Is there a meeting tonight?????

__________________

I'm pretty sure we decided that it was more prudent to just meet with Cindy Meadows first and then decide from there what to do based on how this type of thing works it's way up, according to her.

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CK

You gulls are da bomb. Is there any sort of gathering/meeting plan coming up?

Or maybe there is a family friendly something going on this weekend that we can bring kids, yak about the playground, and have a glass of wine---

if it is warm, maybe a beach afternoon at Grayton?

I have a family bible study to go to tonight. I can't make the meeting at the Parks & Rec. I don't think it would hurt if someone wants to go and be an observer and see what they are planning. It might give us a little more info before we meet with Cindy. What do you think?
I also like Jdarg's idea about a Grayton outing!

__________________
It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

We have the meeting on the 21st and then this issue about having the funds already there, only needing land. I second the waiting for the meeting with Cindy and then going from there AND JDarg's idea about this weekend!

__________________
You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

Well, I think, hopefully, Cindy Meadows will have info on the amount of funds available. I think from there we need to take a hard look at what we want, what the available funds are, and whether or not we think we'll need additional funds from the community to get what we want.

The land will obviously be a completely different issue.

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CK

Besides proposing to attach the park to an existing county facility, you may want to check with the county on available county land. The county owns property scattered around SoWal. If they do not have another purpose for it, they may allow it to be used as a park. That may help to get around the big dollars needed for the purchase of land.

The county owned land can be seen on their GIS map site.
at this link. You have to zoom in before it becomes visible.

http://maps.geocortex.net/imf-5.1.00...jsp/launch.jsp

__________________
Problems cannot be solved by the level of awareness that created them.
Albert Einstein
Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.
Jessamyn West (1902–1984)

This & BDarg's suggestion are key. I tried to multi-quote, but my brain and my computer are not functioning well together right now. Who needs to be at the Cindy Meadows' meeting? What time is it? If you need to, PM me about it.

I have been swearing that I wouldn't spend my life on the computer , so I am only on about every other day right now. If you don't hear from me immediately, that is why.

__________________
You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

Ok, Ladies & Gentlemen: Time to write your top 10 list of things you would like to see in the park! A couple of us are meeting with Cindy tomorrow and would like to be able to present what we would like. Don't be bashful!
You can be specific and give details or you can just list the items, Basketball Court, climbing equipment etc.

__________________
It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

Anyone care to share their park wants?

__________________
It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

I don't think we need a sandbox.


OK- I'll be serious.

Decent slides that don't send the kid shooting straight into the dirt.

Decent drainage- no puddles ANYWHERE.

Nice grassy areas.

Lots of shade structures with concrete underneath so it doesn't get too grubby. Picnic tables.

Potties. And potties big enough for an adult AND kid in one stall.

Water fountains.

Some sort of water feature, maybe separate, like the one in Seacrest.

Equipment for little kids and big kids.

I would like to see this playground close to the library- what a great fit!

OK- gotta rest.

Ok, I've been lurking long enough, this is my first time to actually POST on these boards... I've been reading this thread, I saw the article in the Daily News, and I think it is really cool and exciting that you all are making this happen. I live in FWB, am planning on moving to SoWal as soon as I sell my condo here; no kids yet, but I am a future momma and I would love to see a great park in my soon-to-be new hometown (er, area? region? LOL)...

Anyway, there is some really neat stuff out there for playparks these days; I would love to see some interactive musical equipment... check out these links

http://www.soundplay.com/drums.html
(I think the gator and the sea turtle drums would both be cool, fits in the local fauna)

http://www.groundsforplay.com/music.html

soundplay.com also has a great resources links page with all kinds of info:
http://www.soundplay.com/resources.html

there is a company I found in those links that is based in florida, offers a discount to FL gov't purchases of their equipment, looks promising if we can get a gov't official to write a check:
http://piazzainc.com/index.htm

This article about the history of playgrounds from the NY Times is kinda interesting:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/we...ff2d19&ei=5070


OK enough links for now, I hope they are helpful and inspiring! I'm looking forward to seeing what takes shape, and would like to help out in any way I'm able...

WCW!! Grayt info, we had some of the music interactive playstations at the park where I used to live- the kids loved it.

Basketball courts
Swings for little kids, big kids and handicap kids
A good fence- little beach likes to try to escape (or maybe it's to "explore")
Picnic tabes
Good kid friendly bathrooms- a must!!
Water fountains
places for the big kids to climb, seperate places for the little ones to climb

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

I'd be happy with anything!

Lots of grass (most of us don't have big yards)
Swings
Climbing wall
Lots of shade
A pavillion
Bathroom facilities
Basketball hoops
Sand volleyball court
Tetherball (Duh!)
Fence around playground

Place to skateboard

__________________
If you are lucky enough to live by the sea, you are lucky enough.

YES!! Skateboarding place would be wonderful!! My son would love you

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

I've been really busy lately, but... I really wanted to be involved in the meeting today. Probably too late now

I think we wrote down some of the stuff I said I wanted at the last meeting in the Market.

Fenced in with *one* entrance and exit.
Creative shading for the equipment and total shading for the seating/eating areas.
Equipment that is safe for children under 5. (Seperate units for 2-5 and 5-12 ranges)
It would also be nice to have a toddler (under 2 area like they have at the Destin park).
High visibility throughout the playground. Open design.
Tire swing (I loved those as a kid).
A water feature, not necessarily right away, but eventually.
I would like to avoid sand and use either Poured-In surfacing or something like Forever Lawn. I'm not a fan of loose fill (tire chunks, wood chips, sand, etc..) because it can hide things like broken glass.
Swings!
A safer version of a see-saw, like the one in the Playmore catalog.
Water fountains, low enough to little guys.
Good clean restrooms with a changing table and those little seats that hang on the wall to strap the toddlers in ;)

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CK

Thanks for all the great ideas! Keep them coming. We need to put a prioritized list together.

Three of us met with Cindy Meadows today and the meeting went grayt. She is extremely supportive and gave us a lot of hope that we could have something by the end of the year. We'll put together the notes and post them when we have more time. Got to go pick up the daughter from softball!

Yea, all these ideas sound great!!!!! I like all the suggestions!!!!! Let me know when I can do something!!!!

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Full write up on the meeting still to come, but in the meantime, we need a name for our group. Suggestions?

Mission Playpark Moms
Mission Playpark Org
SoWal Playpark Org
Parents for Parks

All you creative types need to jump in here!

SWCPP South Walton Community Park Parents? with or without parents.
If we say moms, I don't want to exclude any potential help from any dads.
What if people want to help who don't have kids? Maybe SWCPP: South Walton Community Park People!

__________________
It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

What about a theme for the park?

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It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

We just found a very cute climbing structure in the catalog Cindy gave us. Three slides form a foot! What if we had a foot prints theme through out the park, have foot prints instead of hand prints for potential donors if we need them, The poem Footprints in the Sand as a plaque somewhere, I think the boy scout creed says something about footprints regarding taking care of parks? A lot of feet will walk through this park! Somebody run with this please and start your creative juices flowing. This slide is adorable!

__________________
It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

South Walton Community Funn Park!

__________________
It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

.org

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

What a team!!!

__________________
The mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is open.

And we can be called the Funn Parkers!

__________________
It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

The meeting with Cindy Meadows went very well. Supermom26.2 did a great job in introducing the group’s mission to Cindy. She was definitely in support of getting a playground in our area and although there is a lot of other recreational needs, this is one of the top priorities.

The first thing Cindy told us about was a small fenced playground that is going in at Helen McCall, near the new concession stand. It is deemed a “temporary” fix. It will be great to have this playground for the little ones while their siblings are playing ball. I don’t remember exactly when this equipment is slated to go in, but the equipment is here and is waiting to be installed. I think that it’s supposed to be installed sometime in March. Perhaps the target date was opening day, which is March 17th.

We discussed possible locations for the “permanent” playground. Helen McCall park (Moll Drive), the government center near the library, any County owned parcels along 30A, and Cessna Landing were all discussed. It quickly became clear that the top contenders were Helen McCall park and the government center area. The county is about to close on a 10 acre parcel on the west side of the current Helen McCall. They are also trying to buy a parcel of land in the government center off JD Miller road, near the Boys and Girls club and the library. The negotiations for this parcel have been bogged down, but it is still hopeful that this land will be purchased by the county.

In order to get a park quickly, we focused on the Helen McCall land. This land is also slated to be used for more ball fields. As you can imagine, there’s lots of ways the county could use the land and it’s a matter of prioritizing what the county and its residents need first. There is already a group of local parents that have been working with Cindy and the county to create more ball fields and sports facilities. They’re a good group of people and it would probably be best for us to work with them to help design what we would all like Helen McCall to be.

The access to/from Helen McCall was discussed. We were trying to come up with additional accesses besides from Hwy 98. Perhaps a road from 393 or a path from Thompson road. With the increase in traffic, a light might be required at the intersection of Moll Drive and 98.

Besides a playground, we discussed the need for basketball and tennis courts, an area for skateboarders, and a running path for cross country and recreational runners. Cindy indicated that basketball and tennis courts were some of the recreation equipment that had been envisioned for the government center area parcel. The running path could be created around Helen McCall.

Cindy then gave us an idea of the sequence of events that would have to happen to create our park. She also told us what a possible shortest timeline would be. Note that this timeline is only valid if everything goes smoothly and usually these things don’t. The timeline is outlined below.

Hopeful sequence of events:
Now - Research options to improve access to the Moll Drive property
March 15th - Close on Moll Drive 10 acres
March 15th - Start planning.
March 15th - April 6th - Do survey (3 weeks)
April 9th - Create conceptual master plan – hopefully by a local firm that donates their time so they don’t have to take the time to go out to bid.
April 9th - Work Session – put everything down and then planners put it all together. Group Meeting – meet with our group to get input
May 15th - Finalize design
June 1st - Submit to county planning and DEP permit (3 month process)
August 15th -Start construction
Apparently the county can get playground equipment rather quickly, so that shouldn’t dictate the schedule.

Cost:
Recreation plat fees are paid by developers to the county. These fees that have been collected will be used to pay for the park enhancements/equipment. This means that we don’t have to wait until the new budget in October. Yeah!

What our group can do:
· Get on the BCC agenda for the 2nd meeting in March. This BCC meeting is held in the county courthouse here in South Walton.
· Decide on a name for our group.
· Go before the BCC as a group, a very large group with children! Introduce ourselves and explain to the BCC what our mission is why it is so necessary. This in the place to get our desires known and garner the support of the BCC. We need to impress upon them how important the play park is to the residents and children of south Walton.
· Decide if we’d rather have the playground at Helen McCall or the government center property.
· Find a landscape architect that will donate their time. (If the architect donates their time, then the county doesn’t have to go out to bid, which shortens the timeline.)
· Look through some catalogs that Cindy lent us and make a list of all the equipment we’d like to have.
· Create a complete prioritized list of everything we’d like to have in the park. (rest rooms, picnic tables, bike racks, etc…)


That's everything I can remember! When should we all meet again? Unfortunately, this coming week is extremely busy for me. After the half marathon, I'll have lots of time!

Wow! Now that is some information. Great job gulls!!!!

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Grayt Job SGB! Thank you for doing that-I don't think you missed a thing (My notes- or lack of where a mess of scribbles from our wiggly little visual ) I thought Ms. Meadows was extremly supportive of the whole thing, we just need to be prepared to show them that there are LOTS of us who really want this.

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

I spoke to the BCC admin today and we can probably get on the March 13th meeting agenda, which will be held at the Courthouse Annex here. It starts at 4pm. However, for those of us with kids in school, that is during the 5 day weekend the kids have off from school.

Will people be able to attend this meeting or will you be out of town?

The next BCC meeting down here isn't until April 10th, which is after the county closes on the Helen McCall property.

Also, we need to decide on a name for our group to put on the agenda application. Any other suggestions?

Organicmama, IBD, Beachmom, ckhagen, camp creek kid, jdarg, sunny456
and anyone elso who wants to be involved, will you be here for this meeting on March 13 @ 4 pm? We need to have as many people as possible there, friends, neighbors, relatives, to show support for this new park. A handful pf people just won't do it. We need to turn out in full force. If we can't get a good turn out for March 13 , then we go into April.
Please respond to this if you can. Unless anyone has ideas for the name of our group, I guess SGB and I will decide.
Also, we need someone to be a spokesperson at this meeting and read our notes. Anyone interested? I will do it if no one else wants to, but I prefer not to. Someone has to be a better public speaker than me!

__________________
It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

I am really worried that there will be so many people out of town on that date. I was hoping that we could FLOOR them with turnout when we came, however, I don't want to wait until everything is already spoken for. Personally, I don't have a plan that is set in stone, so I can be there...

As far as speaking....that is probably the thing I do the WORST...toastmasters is not me. I get so nervous my lips shake !

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

Did you see the small playground that is the process of being installed near the ballfields at Helen McCall? It will be great for baseball/softball players' siblings!

I saw it tonight! I'm so excited, it will be a WONDERFUL help at some long baseball games!

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

Hey, Gulls! Wow! I had to quickly read everything, as I am FINALLY back up and running!

Yes, I will plan on being there the 13th. Is anyone else planning on going? I will have my munchkins with me, per usual.

Y'all have done a grayt job! I've missed being on SoWal!

Hugs!

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You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

Hi everyone - We didn't get on the BCC meeting agenda for the 13th because we didn't think we'd get enough people there. However, we are going to meet on Thursday (the 15th) at the Watercolor Market at 11:30. We've got lots to decide on and review. We need everyone's input so please try to make it!

Glad you are back!!

(it's me jdarg- bdarg didn't log out)

__________________
Problems cannot be solved by the level of awareness that created them.
Albert Einstein
Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.
Jessamyn West (1902–1984)

Wow!

I'll try my best to be there on the 15th.
I'll start spreading the news to all the other mom's that I know about the April BCC meeting.
I'm also going to put an article in the Seaside paper about this - so maybe that will attract some mom's too. (it will come out before the April BCC meeting)

I vote for Mission Playpark as a name. Simple.

Awesome! Let me know if there is anything I can do.

Thanks! I didn't think it was bdarg... the crazy kids probably scared him last time at Cerulean's . It's good to have the computer back up and running without crashing on me every 2 hours!

I will be there on Thursday at Watercolor Market.

SoWal Funn Park.

__________________
You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

Perfect!!

Reminder that we're meeting today at 11:30. See you there!

I can't get my act together--I will not make it (again). Have to take a child to get braces.

By-the-way, Supermom and I were suprised to see the changes to Helen McCall Park! BEAUTIFUL new ball fields and a small playground. The playground will be great for little ones who are waiting for siblings at games or practices, but it is not the destination playground that we have in mind.

__________________
If you are lucky enough to live by the sea, you are lucky enough.

Beachmom & SGB,

Thanks for all your hard work. The two of you are incredible. Found a place for free petitions online if we want to go that way to show the amount of support for the play park, since the meeting will be on the 10th during spring break. If you can get me a copy of the proposal, I will get it done, so that you don't have to worry about it and I will post on meetup.com and take to Butler, etc.

__________________
You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

You give me WaY too much credit Supermom and SGB are the ones making this happen- so organized- I'm doing good to take partial notes with scribble all over them Publicity and marketing are not my strong suits, but I can make it look pretty !!

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

Hi! Thanks to you and Beachmom for your input on what you think the children would like. I'm hoping to write up our wish list in the next week. I'm not really sure what the proposal needs to include for meetup.com, but think it's a great idea to get the signatures. Is there someway to post it to get signatures with just a paragraph that summarizes what our mission is? Thanks for taking this on!

Hey,

Have y'all been out to the playpark at Frank Brown Park in PCB? It's only a mile from the Hwy 98 and 79 intersection. Anyway, I went out there last week and was floored by how nice the aquatic center (they even have a 1-4 foot gradual pool with a "floating" fort in the center for the kiddies) and playpark were.

If you haven't been, it might be worth it to drop by and check it out before turning the wishlist in.

And I vote for no tire chips to be used. They smell bad and I think my son would try to eat them (YUCK!).

Thanks!

There is/are (a) separate website(s) to draw up petitions for free. We can do that, either with a simple paragraph, or something longer, and then post the link here and on meetup.com. We can also make up a flyer with the web address and get it to the schools, etc. so they can get it to students' folders.

Citymouse just joined SoWal and she is the organizer of the meetup.com SRB group. She was at the 2nd meeting we had (first at the Market), with her little boy. She posted under the knitting classes. I her.

Just like everyone else, I am just happy to help because it brings our community together and that's really what my family & I love about living here.

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You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

Hello everyone,
These boards are great, I am so happy to be a part of them. I am founder/assistant organizer of Santa Rosa Beach Mommies' Group, and am also trying to get a knitting group up and off the ground...
http://parents.meetup.com/175/
http://knitting.meetup.com/1010/
Organic mama, what can we post on the meetup boards about the park to help ?
When and where will the next meeting be held in April??

copy of a letter that I wrote

Dear Commissioner Meadows:

I have been reading and hearing several different versions for what is planned at the Moll Drive property which has/is being acquired from Mr. Max Matthews. I am sorry that we were unable to work something out regarding the sale of our own property just to the north of this however now I must take the position to protect the residential neighborhood which we have planned to develop on our own property.

I would like to participate and voice my concerns at any workshops or public hearings that will be held with regard to the use of the newly acquired property. Is the change of use out of residential similar to how it is done in the private sector? Will the county be holding a public forum with notice to the neighbors prior to changing the use of this property? Changing to this new use in the property next to ours is tantamount to converting your next door neighbor’s property to a commercial use with the equivalent traffic count of a Wal-Mart Superstore.

Be assured that I support increased recreational activity at this site. However, I must tell you that I have extremely strong concerns regarding mega-watt lighting that may illuminate my property as well as increases in traffic and noise etc. Keeping this in mind I feel that the best use for this acreage would be recreational area for non-organized team sporting events. i.e. children’s play areas, exercise/nature trails, dog parks, etc. Recreation should accommodate everyone - there are plenty of children that can't/don't play team sports - and a place for them and others is equally important. Lighting and parking that is necessary for such a use must be responsibly considered as it will seriously impact the value and quiet enjoyment of my property and the other neighboring properties which are all zoned for residential use only.

I strongly oppose expansion of a ballpark or field which would place intrusive lighting, traffic and noise in an east/west direction on the west side of Moll Drive. The effects of noise and mega-watt lighting would most surely bleed over to mine and other neighbor’s property. This can and should be done on the east side of the street where ball parks already exist. The 10 acres north of the existing ball park would be a good spot.

Please point me in the right direction of how I may be kept up to date and participate in what is being planned for this location. I want to be assured that there will be oversight and public participation to insure that all of the impact to the neighborhood and the environment is respectfully and responsibly considered.

Hey, everyone! I have been away from the 'puter for a few days and wanted to know where we all were on this. DuneDog, thanks for this copy. I am not sure if people have contacted you about it via PMs or not, but I do feel that we need to all work together in achieving everyone's goals. For everyone else, was this issue brought up in conversations with Cindy Meadows and others? I know that at the last meeting we had, we were discussing the pros & cons of the locations of the park in regards to what we can get voted through easily.

Basically, where are we in this process?

Hope all is well with everyone. And, again, DuneDog, thanks for the post. It is incredibly helpful in this matter.

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You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

SGB, Organicmama and Beachmom and whomever else, we should meet again to hammer down anything we need to discuss for the meeting. Are we on the agenda already?

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It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

I have the form to fill out to get on the agenda. If we could meet sometime later this week, Wednesday or Thursday, that would be great. We can fill out the form and it would give me a deadline to write up the wish list we came up with last week.

Regarding land use of the new 10 acres at Helen McCall... Personally, I don't want to get in the middle of a land use arguement. I think that's something for the county to handle with the land owners in the area. My overall goal is to get more recreational land and much needed facilities for the children in South Walton. In particular, our group is focusing on a playground and other play areas, but I don't think it should happen at the expense of other recreational requirements. Just my 2 cents.

Agreed, more recreational land for all children is a good thing. I have no problem with the land use, in fact I am for it. It is the nature of the recreational development that concerns me. It should be done thoughtfully to complement the existing residential neighborhood. If done right it would be great to live near, if done wrong it will be horrible to live near.

Just let me know when & I will be there.

I think that DuneDog is in agreement with what we are trying to accomplish. I do feel that we would all feel the same way.

I used to live next to Sanford Stadium at UGA with my dorm room window (no a/c at the time) level with the horrendous noise. This could effect the vicinity surrounding the area just as much as that. It's simply a reminder to be thoughtful in what we are accomplishing.

Blessings to all.

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You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

Hello !!
I posted a link on the Santa Rosa Beach Mommies' meetup group site to the playground thread here. Hopefully this will turn more people on to what is happening.
Also, please contact me if you'd like to join on as a member !! We are for work and/or stay at home moms, anyone can join that is looking for fun, friendship and support for themselves and their kids.
We've set up an invitation code so that huge numbers of people on-line don't end up joining and reading our message boards without participating. E-mail me if you are interested !!

Thank y'all for your hard work on the playpark project, it is soooooo NEEDED.....
http://parents.meetup.com/175/
soniapascalli@yahoo.com

We are going to meet tomorrow, Thursday March 29th at 12:30 at Watercolor Market to finalize our thoughts and wishes. This will be the last meeting prior to the BCC meeting. Please try to come and support your Community Park!

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It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

I'll be there!

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You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

OM, we missed you! We did get a lot done. We assigned BM to do some presentation art, Jdarg is going to speak at the meeting, SGB and I are writing what we want to say and getting on the agenda. CCK was there and another friend who had some grayt ideas as well. WE STILL NEED A LOT OF PEOPLE TO SHOW UP AT THE BOC. MEETING TO SHOW SUPPORT OF THE PARK! The meeting is April 10 at 4 I think. SGB, if that's wrong, please correct me.

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It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

Sounds like y'all got a lot done. I am sorry that I didn't make it.

By the time Geoff got home from setting up the stage at the Fish House, it was 12:45! He was trying to get home earlier, but couldn't. And I wouldn't have gotten there until 1:15 and then had to leave to get River. This is the first time I've been on SoWal since then.

Do you want me to make up a petition to get out online, etc.? I still would love to.

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You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

We are on the agenda for the 4/10 BCC meeting next Tuesday. They're going to let us know what time and I'll post it when we get it. We need as many people as possible to show up at the meeting to support us. Feel free to bring the kids! If someone could let the local mommies group know, that would be great.

Should we meet on Monday to go over everything before the BCC meeting?

I posted the info on the meetup message board. When we have a time, I will post that. Sadly, I will be in ATL at that point. Can y'all tell I am not looking forward to that drive?

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You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

Let's meet at Watercolor Market at noon on Monday. We'll review the information we'll give the BCC. Did anyone see the article in the Sun about the skatepark group?

Good -thanks SGB! Getting ready to drink coffee and read the paper now!

[quote=SGB;226546]Let's meet at Watercolor Market at noon on Monday. We'll review the information we'll give the BCC. Did anyone see the article in the Sun about the skatepark group?[/quote]

In a perfect world? The BCC funds both. But I am not holding my breath, and personally do not think a skate park is a necessary addition to our community.

Louisville (my old home town) has a world class skatepark that is nothing but a headache for the city due to crime, drugs, lawsuits, unsupervised children, vandalism, expensive maintenance issues- the list of negatives is way longer than the positives. I do think that a park/playground needs to be first priority over a skatepark since a playground would be used by a larger segment of taxpayers.

We are on the agenda for tomorrow's (April 10th) BCC meeting. The meeting starts at 4pm and we're on the agenda for approximately 4:40 pm.

Hey! We might get to be there! Our trip has been delayed a day because of Hunter being sick this weekend (why we weren't there today) but it might help us be able to attend.

I will post on meetup right now.

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You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

Just so everyone knows, the meeting is in South Walton at the Annex building where you get your beach permits!

Bring friends, relatives, neighbors and especially kids! If they want to make signs, that would be great too!

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It was kind of like Meat and Potatoes - Simon Cowell

We need LOTS of people there. They need to know that SoWal is a community, not just a tourist area. The only was we are going to get what we want is to be there and ASK! This could be a wonderful addition to a place that we all know is so special. Bring kids, bring friend's kids!!! Maybe they will give us what we want just to get us out of there!!!

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

BUMP!!! Help!!!!

We heard that the seawall issue is on the agenda- if any of you are planning to attend for the seawall issue, please bring your children and join in the fun when we make our playground presentation! We go on at 4:40 (approx). Woo hoo!

I promise I will not give any of your kids Easter candy. But maybe they should be "sugared up" so they look like they need a playground to go and let off some steam.

Crack the whip on those Meet Up Mamas and get 'em there!

BUMP!! Don't complain about what we don't have, fight for what you want!! and BRING KIDS!!!!!

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"where did all this mop water come from?" (mom)
"the potty" (little beach with toy mop in hand...!)

Note that although there a lot of issues to be debated at the BCC meeting, Mission Playpark! is early on the agenda, before any of the lenthy discussions - So we don't have to worry about waiting all night for our 5 minutes. Please be there! If we want more recreational facilities we have to show our commissioners how many people (voters) are asking for them.

jdarg has volunteered (well we begged a little bit) to be our spokeswoman tomorrow and she's going to do a great job of representing us!

Best of luck....it's people like y'all that make SoWal a great place! This seems like a shoe in with jdarg speaking and sugared up kids!!!

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The mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is open.