A local group and an Eagle Scout helped this Liberty Twp. park improve its safety

The playground at Dudley Memorial Park in Liberty Twp. has a new protective fence due to the efforts of many community members.

Earlier this year the MOMS Club of Liberty Twp. set a goal of raising $5,000 by selling personalized pickets to partially enclose the playground area at Dudley Memorial Park. The group hit the goal and the fence is up.

“We got 30 to 40 different sponsors, which included some local businesses, as well as a lot of families who sponsored fence posts with their family names or their children’s names,” said Maureen Mowl, secretary for the group, who added the group raised more than $5,000.

Then there was the issue of who could install it. Enter 14-year-old Chase Oswald, who needed a project to complete his Eagle Scout designation.

RELATED: Liberty Twp. MOMS Club raises money to improve park safety

“We’re a group of 50 moms with toddlers running around, so building a fence is not something that is necessarily in our repertoire,” Mowl said. “It was just the perfect timing and the perfect partnership for that.”

Oswald’s mom, Angela, said Rick Plummer, the township’s services director, hooked the MOMS Club up with their son. They worked with the Lowes on Tylersville and were able to get the materials at the hardware store’s cost and free delivery. The township provided the manpower to dig the post holes.

Oswald said their son — and about 30 other community members — worked for a solid month on the project, including in a garage when it rained.. As a result of the project — and his 37 merit badges — Chase earned his Eagle Scout rank on Dec. 12.

“We are so proud of him, this was so huge,” she said. “And being 14, he took this on and didn’t look back. We are so proud of him and all that he has achieved.”

Natalie Barger, a member of the fundraising team, told the Journal-News previously there are issues at the park — like a pond — that posed a danger to small children who stray from the playground area, which made a fence a needed safety measure.

“For me it just felt like it would be safer to have a fence, even though it doesn’t completely block the kids in, it just prevents them from going up and over the hill or darting towards the pond and you trying to catch them,” Barger said. “It just felt like it was a safer option, similar to the Fort Liberty Park.”

Liberty Twp. Trustee Board President Tom Farrell praised the community for coming together to address a need and finance it.

“We certainly could use more groups like the MOMS Club in Liberty,” Farrell said. “A lot of people will come up and they will have an issue they need resolved, but they rarely come up with a solution. The MOMS club had an issue and they came up with a solution and not only did they come up with a solution they put together a group to come up with financing.”

The MOMS Club of Liberty Township is a local chapter of the international non-profit organization and is a support group for stay-at-home moms, those who work part-time or from home.

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