Ward's playground is dedicated - Bell Buckle, TN
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vhasler
N 35° 35.643 W 086° 21.427
16S E 558237 N 3939114
Smiles and tears in Bell Buckle on 10/28/2005 as the playground constructed in memory of Ward Anderson was dedicated on what would have been his third birthday.
Waymark Code: WM6EZH
Location: Tennessee, United States
Date Posted: 05/24/2009
Views: 6
Story published Saturday, October 29, 2005 as written by Brian Mosely.
Bell Buckle has been given a gift of love. There were both smiles and tears in Bell Buckle Friday as the playground constructed in memory of Ward Anderson was dedicated. Friday would have been Ward's third birthday.
Citizens, children and Webb School students attended the ceremony in honor of the 2-year-old, who died following an accident at Tims Ford Lake this past summer. The tragedy that struck the small town has resulted in bringing them all together, which could be seen earlier this year with the blue ribbons that covered the streets while Ward was fighting for his life at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
The small community of neighbors, family and friends asked Ward's parents, James and Julie, what they could do in their time of grieving. They said they wanted a playground where they could find comfort and solace.
Helping hands in town immediately got busy. Within the first two weeks of the idea for the playground, over $17,000 was donated and other donated their skills and elbow grease. "Nobody sat on the sidelines," park board chairman Jenny Hunt said. "Everyone jumped into the field of action." So far, more than $40,000 has been donated for the playground in the child's memory.
On Friday, many lined up to place their handprints in the cement base which will hold a life-size bronze sculpture of Ward holding a bug. Bell Buckle artist Russ Faxon has been commissioned by the Andersons to create the piece.
"The handprints we left behind will be a sign of this day that has made a dream turn into a reality," Hunt said. "The people of this community and those that embrace it are absolutely hands-down the best. They're the people that abide the spirit of what is good and right."
James thanked the citizens for all the work and said, "this has been a real healing process for us and we'll never be able to thank out community enough. "We love each and every one of you tremendously."
Carla Webb and company provided music in the form of some of Ward's favorite songs. John Anderson, Ward's grandfather, read a poem written by Tennessee's Poet Laureate Margaret Britton Vaughn of Bell Buckle, titled "Our Musical Angel."
God set Ward Anderson
To music and added
A new hymn
To His Songbook of Life.
The words are playful,
The melody is love,
And the meter is innocence.
Today this musical angel
Looks on and protects Bell Buckle
And is there to remind us
What life is really about.
May we always sing
Ward's words and know
That the Harmony of a child
Is the music we must live by.
Blue balloons each carrying a tag with Ward's picture were released into the heavens by the crowd. Following that, James and Julie cut the ribbon on the playground named in their child's honor.
The playground includes a large big kids' playset, a toddler playstation, and a swing set with eight swings, as well as wood based mulch with a drainage system. Total area for the playground is around 6,000 square feet. The Andersons, along with Bell Buckle's park board, decided on the playground design from the Morrow, Ga., firm Leisure Lines Inc., the same company that Cascade Elementary decided upon when it installed new playground equipment last spring.
They are also looking into a mosaic-cement sculpture of a lobster by Sherri Warner Hunter, also of Bell Buckle.
Donations are still coming in for the playground and Ward's parents hope to add "a few spring mounted one-person bouncy things" in the future that cost about $650 each. Donations may be sent to Bell Buckle Park, P.O. Box 276, Bell Buckle, TN 37020. Checks can be made to the Bell Buckle Park with "Ward Anderson Memorial Fund" written on the "for" line. An acknowledgment of the donation will be forwarded to Ward's parents.
Type of publication: Newspaper
When was the article reported?: 10/29/2005
Publication: Shelbyville Times Gazette
Article Url: [Web Link]
Is Registration Required?: no
How widespread was the article reported?: local
News Category: Kids/Youth
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