To the Editor:
We are writing to follow up on an article published about three weeks ago regarding the recently constructed playground at the New Sweden School. Some important information was not captured and the School’s Playground Project Committee wants to be sure that everyone who contributed so much time, effort and energy to this cause is recognized.
Travis Cyr, the organizer of Arootsakoostik, donated a generous portion of the proceeds from this year’s festival. Bryan Forbes and Aroostook Roofing donated time to move existing playground equipment. Jason Landeen did all of the ground work on the site using equipment and materials provided by Soderberg Construction. Columbia Forest Products and Kevin Bouchard donated wood chips and delivered to the school for the ground area around the new play set.
The committee extends appreciation to all the volunteers helping with various events throughout the year — from rolling meatballs for the St. Lucia Dinner to organizing our space (thank you Frontier Pharmacy and Nicole and Joe Solomon!) at the Caribou City-Wide Yard sale in May. The New Sweden Cooperative Extension gave a generous financial donation at our St. Lucia celebration. We thank all the businesses who donated items/services for the silent auction held at the end of last school year.
Families and students of the New Sweden School worked on and donated to various fundraisers over the past year. Many individuals including the students themselves gave financial donations. Your support was really appreciated.
We know that this was mentioned in the original articles, but we want to recognize again the dedication of Jennifer Holmes (our awesome music teacher) taking the time to write a grant through Lowes which yielded almost half of the funds needed for the play set. Without the grant from Lowes, our children would not have the beautiful play set this year.
Last but certainly not least, these people set aside an entire day to help construct the play set; Erich Margeson (School Facilities Manager), Jerry Holmes, Jason Landeen, Joe Solomon, Ernie Easter, Brandon Conroy and Brian Jenkins. These workers were supported by a team who organized snacks and a potluck meal for all involved. There were many other people (mostly the wives of these guys) who helped with reading and deciphering the instructions.
There was a great deal of excitement and anticipation for the first day of school so staff could witness the smiles of the children once they set eyes on their new play area. We believe that all involved in this process felt a deep sense of community and camaraderie during fiscally uncertain times. We are excited to consider what else could be possible knowing how much the people of this school community can pull together and work as a team!
Jessica Wilson, Playground Committee member
Laurie Spooner, New Sweden School principal
