New playground dedicated at Sugar Creek Park in Ferryville
Joanne White, Ferryville Vision & Promotion Board co-chair (with Sherry Quamme) spoke during the dedication of the new $79,000 playground installed last year at Sugar Creek Park. (Photo by Correne Martin)
A group of Ferryville Vision & Promotion Board members, village officials, project donors, etc. were on hand for the official ribbon cutting.
Cameron, Charlie and Clara McCracken, of Ferryville, got the chance to pose during the playground dedication inside the cutouts of this unique mural, created by Kay Campbell, of Ferryville, and Hans Gill, of Seneca.
By Correne Martin
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”
This quote, by anthropologist Margaret Meade, is exemplified by the new playground standing in Ferryville’s Sugar Creek Park.
Sugar Creek Park is one of only two parks created in 1937 by the Depression Era Works Program, on the now Wisconsin All-American Great River Road National Scenic Byway, that still exists and offers camping, shelters and a wayside for travelers.
The park also has a brand new $79,000 playground, swingset, merry-go-round and benches with a flood-resistant base and woodchips installed in August 2020, and officially dedicated at a ribbon cutting ceremony last week on Sept. 9. The colorful playground is an expansion to an existing play structure that is still safely being used.
The Ferryville Vision and Promotion Board Playground Committee, chaired by Sherry Quamme and Joanne White, began planning for this upgrade in 2017, and has held consistent fundraisers since then to make it happen. From garage sales and soup and salad suppers, and donations to grants, they created this new reality for the park at the gateway to Ferryville, population 182.
The safe, state-of-the-art playground equipment makes the park a more “welcoming place for all who stop and find their comfort, fun, escape—their momentary pause, their family time, a coffee break or a place for kids to play outdoors,” Quamme commented at the dedication.
Gloria Moore, village trustee, said the new playground brought back memories of her own childhood park. “I spent all day there and never thought of it as anything other than a place to have fun,” she said.
She reminded the 35 or so in attendance at the dedication that this addition is so much more to the Ferryville area: it benefits the community economically, health wise and environmentally, and socially. She said parks are desirable by homeowners, as they increase property and tax values. She said they bring people into the community to shop at stores and patronize establishments, and hopefully inspire them to make a return trip as well.
White added, the playground, in its most basic sense, enhances the quality of life for its residents and visitors.
Ferryville Vision and Promotion member Marsha Stross talked about how blessed their little community is for many reasons.
She said, “We have the bluffs, Great River Road, Mighty Mississippi and, now, because of all of you, were sitting here with this wonderful new playground.”
Concluding the dedication, a donor plaque was unveiled, a ribbon was cut and all—including several children—took time to browse and enjoy the playground.
