 |
|
|
Catholic school playground to serve community
By Conor Gilliland
Msgr. Jorge De los Santos, liaison for archdiocesan Hispanic Ministry, blessed a recently built playground at Assumption School in north Denver as Welby Days festivities kicked off Sept. 17.
“The playground was built for the whole community,” explained Assumption principal Tom Hamilton. “So we scheduled the blessing to coincide with Welby Days to open the playground up to the community.”
A hundred volunteers from the school and church came together on Aug. 20 to help build the playground.
“Obviously there had been some prep work, but the actual building of the playground was finished in a day,” Hamilton said.
The Colorado Health Foundation funded the playground with a grant.
“The primary goal of the grant was to provide an opportunity and a place for the kids of the community to be healthy,” Hamilton said. “This kind of opportunity was lacking in our community and this helps to fill that need.”
Consequently, officials scheduled the blessing and ribbon cutting with Welby Days, a community event that celebrates the heritage of the Welby neighborhood.
“It’s kind of a throwback to the old harvest festivals you have in the fall where people come together offering different services and goods for sale,” Hamilton explained.
The festival took place at the intersection of 78th Avenue and York Street. Activities included a children’s carnival, a car show, a tractor exhibit, and a farmer’s market.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||