Big boost to Play in Bay campaign

The Feb. 6 Winterfest event at Play in Bay raised more than $3,000 to help refurbish the wooden playground. Photo by Lori Kubiak

The Bay Village Foundation received three big boosts to the fundraising effort to remodel the Play in Bay playground. At last week's quarterly meeting of the Foundation, George McDonald presented a check for $4,500 from the Bay Village Kiwanis. At the same time, Bay High Key Club president Jared Chudzinski presented a check for $2,000. These two gifts prompted BVF President Al Paulus to say, “I am so excited about how the Bay Village community has embraced the Play in Bay refurbishment and enhancement project. We have received donations from over 300 individuals and businesses."

The following Saturday, Feb. 6,  The Bay Village Foundation brought the first Winterfest to Play in Bay. Trustees Sarah Urbansic and Mindy Stroh chaired the event. Over $3,000 was raised and the kids had a great time. Said BVF Vice President Rich Veres, "It was a great day! We had beautiful weather, terrific effort and an awesome, enthusiastic crowd of children, parents and grandparents. There was a nice showing of adult volunteers and an excellent group of volunteers from the Bay High School Key Club."

Kiddie Kollege opened its door and helped plan the activities. "We were incredibly pleased with the turn out and support from our community. What a wonderful day it was for Play in Bay!" said co-chair Mindy Stroh. The trustees were so happy with the results that they are going to offer Springfest on May 7 at Play in Bay.

We have also received donations from Friends of the Bay Village Library and the Garden Club; we are hoping that more clubs will get on board to support this project. If you want to invite a speaker to describe the project, call the writer at the number below.

This event and these donations gave a nice boost to the current fundraising campaign. We’ve raised over $60,000 and have pledges of $15,000 more to upgrade and refurbish the Play in Bay wooden structure at a cost of $98,000. President Paulus added, “With the tremendous momentum we have, I think it is possible that we will be able to complete the project this spring. I strongly encourage those who have not yet had a chance to contribute to help us get over the finish line by making a contribution to the Play in Bay project."

To contribute, mail a check to the Bay Village Foundation at ‪P.O. Box 40122, Bay Village, OH 44140. To schedule a speaker, call Eileen Vernon at 440-835-2243.

Eileen Vernon

Trustee of The Bay Village Foundation. Retired lawyer. Resident of Bay Village Foundation for over 32 years.

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Volume 8, Issue 4, Posted 9:29 AM, 02.16.2016