ELBERTA — A little rain might have slowed the painting Saturday morning, but it didn’t dampen the spirits of volunteers this past weekend.

Attempts to paint the picket fence surrounding the kids’ park in the middle of town were thwarted by a sudden rain storm. Just minutes after the white paint was applied to the first sections, Mother Nature washed it off.

Spearheaded by Councilman Michael Hudson; the volunteer crew of men, women and even children worked all day Friday uprooting the existing playground equipment from the corner of the city park on Main Street. The following day, that equipment joined the wooden fort inside the picket fence on the other end of the park, at the corner of Chicago Street and State Avenue (U.S. Highway 98).

“(Hudson) donated his time and his construction crew’s time to get this done, and the town appreciates it,” said Police Chief and volunteer Stan DeVane.

Hudson had his construction crew began work in early May building the pavilion and multilevel wooden fort at the new kids park. The project was supported by donations of goods and money.

“We spent nine hours (Friday) getting the old playground equipment up,” DeVane said. “Those posts were three feet in the ground and each one had a full 40-pound sack of concrete. Those things weren’t going anywhere.”

While the town backhoe helped, most of the work involved hand shovels. Hammers and chisels were used to painstakingly chip off the concrete. Saturday’s work of digging postholes and resetting the playground was much easier.

Why move the playground?

The children’s playground was moved about 100 yards west for a number of reasons, according to Hudson.

“The other place was close to the road and didn’t have a fence,” said Hudson. “There was a chance kids could run out in the road. Parents need break. They don’t need to worry about their safety inside the fence.

“We also wanted it to be more visible. This is for the kids, but is also a major asset for the town.”

The new playground area works better with the other features of the park. The pavilion can be used for parties. In addition to seating, it would offer shade for parents watching children play.

“On top of that, folks will now have access to restrooms in the sausage booth,” Hudson said.

He noted that the rumors that the playground was moved for a splash pad are untrue. The town has applied for grant funds to help build a splash pad, but the location has not been determined.