Playground cowboys.
Stuart McEwen, Jens Simonson and Odin Simonson, all students at Metcalfe Public School, take a ride on their ponies during the wild west dance-a-thon fundraiser on March 7.
Emma Jackson
If kids dancing in the Metcalfe Public School gym seemed happy, it could be because they’re more than $4,000 closer to a new playground.
Students at the school on 8th Line Road have been fundraising since late 2011 to raise about $30,000 for a new primary play structure on the school property.
On Thursday, March 7 students wore their best wild west outfits for a fundraising dance-a-thon in the gym.
Youngsters in black and white cowboy hats ran around on hobby horses or chased cow-print balloons while a DJ blasted country and classic rock tunes.
The student body raised about $4,200 after expenses, which falls shorts of previous fundraising years but will still allow construction to begin on the play structure this summer.
“We were looking for more but we’re happy with that,” said parent volunteer Kim Sheldrick, who has been leading the playground planning process.
Between grants from the city, school board and school council the playground account already has about $27,000, Sheldrick said.
Sheldrick’s son Michael is in Grade 8 at the school, so her children won’t directly benefit from the new structure geared to the primary grades between JK and Grade 2.
But she said the whole community benefits when structures like these are installed.
“The community can use it after hours,” she said.
The new playground will likely have a slide, playhouse area and bridge.