When Shannon Kishel-Roche, Shelly Lappi and Kim Stirewalt joined a video call with Kiwanis International and Landscape Structures last week, they anticipated a few follow-up questions about the Chisholm Kiwanis Club’s entry to the Legacy of Play H2O contest. The three women were quickly overtaken with joy when they learned their club had won the contest.
“Oh, my goodness! I’m tearing up! We’re so grateful!” exclaimed Kishel-Roche.
“We’re just so thrilled!” said Lappi, again and again.
Landscape Structures and Aquatix® partnered with Kiwanis International to create the new Legacy of Play H2O contest to help Kiwanis clubs achieve their goal of bringing play to all children. The Chisholm Kiwanis Club of Chisholm, Minnesota, will be awarded an AquaSmart™ Package from Aquatix valued at up to US$50,000.
Chisholm is a mining town on the Mesabi Range in Northern Minnesota with a population of less than 5,000. While the town is built around the 158-acre Longyear Lake, it is not fit for swimming and several nearby open pit mines are not monitored or safe for swimming. That’s why the Chisholm Kiwanis Club was focused on bringing an option for safe water play to the community.
The club will install the splash pad equipment in Memorial Park, a space that already offers football and softball fields, sand volleyball, bocce ball and pickleball courts, as well as the summer recreation program. The addition of the splash pad will encourage even more community members as well as surrounding communities to visit and enjoy the beautiful town of Chisholm.
“Our club celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020, and this project has been something we’ve been talking about ever since,” explained Kishel-Roche. “A splash pad was a great solution to our lack of community swimming options, and it’s a great opportunity to commemorate our club’s centennial.”
“The contest was definitely the carrot to get us moving on the project,” said Lappi. “It’s been amazing to see how the contest has brought our community together. During the voting period, people came up to us in the grocery store or walking down the sidewalk to let us know that they voted that day.
”On behalf of Landscape Structures and Aquatix, I would like to congratulate the Chisholm Kiwanis Club on winning the Legacy of Play H2O contest,” said Pat Faust, president of Landscape Structures. “We are thankful for the club’s commitment to bringing their community together for recreation of all kinds. We look forward to working together with Kiwanians and community members to bring an AquaSmart Package and safe water play to the town of Chisholm.”
The Chisholm club, which has 13 members, will work with the city, Chisholm Community Foundation, Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation, Owens Family Foundation, Lions Club, Iron Range Tourism Bureau, Chisholm KIDS Plus and the Key Club to complete the project. Plans call for the splash pad to be installed by December 2023.
“The enthusiasm and dedication to children’s emotional and physical well-being we saw from not only the Chisholm Kiwanis Club, but all of the clubs that entered this year’s contest, exemplify Kiwanis’ mission to serve the children of the world,” said Pam Norman, chief philanthropy officer of the Kiwanis Children’s Fund. “We’re excited that for nearly a decade, our partnership with Landscape Structures has resulted in creating more opportunities for accessible play in communities everywhere.”
While this is the first year that Aquatix, Landscape Structures and Kiwanis International have sponsored the Legacy of Play H2O contest, the latter two companies have sponsored the Legacy of Play Contest focused on playgrounds for eight years. Stay tuned for more information about the 2022 annual Legacy of Play Contest coming later this year and find more information here: kiwanis.org/clubs/member-resources/events/legacy-of-play.