The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1950-02-02
pIcKENs is PROUD OF ITS
pRE.ScHooL PLAYGROUND

About a year ago Mrs. oee"aA
! Bridgforth was sitting in her NV
ing room looking out the wlnoo"
irving to think of a prject tor
the newly organized Heritage
club to sponsor. She was chair
man of the project committee
Her eyes fell upon the vacant lo'
| across the street - in the middle
of the residential section, a BLOCK
from two churches and the school,
oyergrown with weeds, and ut
tered with debris. Why COULDN'T
they sponsor a pre-school play
ground?
Pickens. a town of approxlma-
tely 700 population lit may nave
| increased recently with the re-
newed interest in the oil field
here) is primarily an agricultural
and cattle raising community. Lo-
Gated on the edge of town is a
81. 100000 Southern Natural Gas
pumping station, and within re-
cent years an oil field has been
developed near by.
Since most of the members OF
the Heritage club r mothers OF
small children, the need for the
playground was keenly felt. There
was no place in the town for the
children to play, and the high
school play ground was made
ouate for small children. There
are an estimated rs p~re-school
children in town.
Free use of the lot was granted
by the owner, Mr.. William owen.
The Boy Scouts offered their SER
vices in cleaning the lot, after
which a local farmer graded, fer
tilted and sowed seed. So mucn
had been donated - but where
would money be found to buy
equipment?
The members OF the club, now
most enthusiastic about their pro-
ject, soon convinced the members
of the Rotary club and the AS You
Like It club (their mother club
that the idea was worth while.
Liberal contributions were OBJ
tanned form them, as well as IN
dividuals. But they did not stop
there. A womanless style show
was given, and a rummage sale
held. This netted enough funds
to buy the equipment, which IN
cluded two slides, a five-foot one
for tots, and one for the larger
children, a merry go round and
a Jungle Jim. Material for a
see-saw, swings, and a climbing
bar were donated, a S well as ma
terial for benches and two sand
boxes. Since the play ground
was located on a well travelled
street, "slow" signs were erected,
and a sign saying, "PickenS IRE
School Playground"
The club members husbands
came in for their share of work
as most of the building and all OF
the equipment assembling was
left up to them. However, all
the members agree that had it
not been for the enthusiastic CO.
operation of each club member,
the project would never have
been completed.
The playground is the most
popular spot in town for mothers
and children. During the summer
months, through the cooperation
of the mothers, supervised play
provided in the afternoon.
This brought to the eyes of the
club members other needs, among
which was a water fountain. The
town donated one, and now the
members want to add a wading
pool before the coming summer.
This January the lot presents
quite a different prospect. The
grass is moved, play ground
is there, and on warm
sunny days laughter of children
rings out. The people of Pickens
realize that the worth of the pro-
ject could never be estimated in
value as far as money is concern
ed.
fish Maxwell and Byrd Mont