Ross Township Park will get upgrade

Never underestimate what a community can do when residents work together.

Ross Township’s Park, the only public recreational site in the Sweet Valley area, is getting an upgrade as the Lake Silkworth Area Lions Club, Lake-Lehman High School students and township officials combine forces to improve the nearly 35-year old park.

The Lions Club won a $1,000 Community Improvement Grant from The Times Leader after submitting a proposal in mid-April detailing the club’s plans to refurbish the park.

Editorial Page Editor Mark Jones developed the contest as a way to see what innovative ways organizations could use a $1,000 grant to improve the community.

“One of the criteria that we concentrated on was a project that would bring people together not only in the actually doing of the project, but in the long run as well. Refurbishing this playground will certainly accomplish that goal,” Jones said.

The newspaper received 15 entries from groups across Luzerne County looking to implement a low-cost project that would dramatically improve the community.

Newspaper officials hope to spur community involvement by publishing stories in the coming weeks about some of the other projects proposed for the grant.

“When these stories are published we think businesses and individuals will step up to provide the modest funding needed to make sure the good ideas become reality. It’s another way the people who work for The Times Leader are involved in the positive things that are happening in our communities,” Times Leader Editor and Publisher Richard L. Connor said.

For members of the Lake Silkworth Area Lions Club, this project is just another way to live up to the club’s “We Serve” motto. The club plans to replace a deteriorating wooden sign, add more garbage cans, plant flowers, paint poles at the basketball and tennis courts to beautify the area. Club members also want to add benches and picnic tables so parents have a place to sit as their children are playing.

Club Secretary Lee Sikora said the area’s other playgrounds are owned by the Lake-Lehman School District and surrounded by fences.

“This is really the only place parents can bring their kids so they can run around a little bit. Play some basketball, tennis or whatever,” Sikora said.

Fellow club member Janet Swanger pointed out, “If it’s not done then there is not going to be any place for any of those things to happen.”

The club learned last week the township received a $30,000 community revitalization grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. The township plans to replace the basketball’s backboards, rims and nets, a chain-link fence surrounding the tennis courts and resurface both courts, Township Supervisor Stan Davis said.

When the club applied for the contest they did not realize township officials were also seeking a grant to modify the park. Club members will meet with township officials next week to develop a final plan to complete the projects. Township supervisors were unable to be reached for comment.

The Lions Club will start the project in the fall when school starts back, so they can work with the students in Sikora’s Adult Learning Class at Lake-Lehman High School.

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The Lions Club won $1,000 from The Times Leader after detailing plans to refurbish the park.

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