HH_042717

homerhorizon.com news
the Homer Horizon | April 27, 2017 | 11
Blue Jeans Ball to benefit new playground for Goodings Grove
Erin Redmond, Assistant Editor
The Goodings Grove Parent
Teacher Organization
is inviting Homer Glen and
Lockport residents to dust
off their boots and done their
best denim while benefiting
area youth.
The group will host its inaugural
Blue Jeans Ball, a
rustic, country-casual event
from 6-11 p.m. Saturday,
May 13, at Zachary’s Red
Barn, 16849 S. Cedar Road,
Homer Glen. Proceeds from
the adults-only event will go
towards building a new playground
at the school.
The current Goodings
Grove playground was installed
more than 20 years
ago. The structure features
a plethora of rust spots, as
well as chipped and peeling
coating. While it is not
dangerous for the children
to play on, Goodings Grove
PTO member Jenny Reichardt
said her group is trying
to be proactive.
“It needs to be replaced before
it becomes a safety hazard,”
she said. “If you walk
to the playground and you
see the playground and you
imagine your kids playing
on the playground, anyone
would want to change that.”
The site has received an
excessive amount of wear
and tear, PTO member Kerrie
Heeney said. With no
playground in the surrounding
subdivisions, and with
Goodings Grove’s baseball
fields in use throughout the
summer, local children flock
to the school to play after
school and during games.
“It’s been kind of overlooked
for so long; if we
as parents didn’t step up, I
don’t know if it would be addressed
at all,” Heeney said.
“I know my kids are softball
players, and they’re using
it all summer long when
they’re playing there. Kids
from the surrounding subdivisions
come and play there;
that’s their park.
“This is a playground the
“This is a
playground the
kids ride their
bikes to, so why
not have a great
playground?
They’re going
to use it all
summer. Let’s
give them
something
great.”
Kerrie Heeney —
Goodings Grove PTO
member, on why the
school should get a new
playground
kids ride their bikes to, so
why not have a great playground?
They’re going to use
it all summer. Let’s give them
something great.”
The estimated cost of
a new playground for the
school is $170,000, and the
PTO has already began putting
money aside through
various other fundraisers
throughout the year. Its fund,
however, is not exclusively
for the playground, as it goes
towards other donations for
the school, such as supplies
for the teachers’ classrooms.
All monies raised from the
Blue Jeans Ball, on the other
hand, will go directly to funding
the playground project.
The cost is $35 per person before
May 1, and it is $50 after.
Tickets including a catered
dinner from Papa Joe’s, bull
riding and a live performance
from the band 4CAST, led
by the father of a Goodings
Grove third-grader.
The stairs — among other areas — of the playground at Goodings Grove are rusted and chipped, prompting the Goodings
Grove PTO to want to build a new playground for students and area children. Photo submitted
The ball will also feature a
live auction and raffle, where
attendees will have a shot at
winning prizes, such as Disney
park-hopper passes, weekend
getaways to Lake Geneva and
Wisconsin Dells, and a fourpack
of tickets to Chicago
Cubs and Chicago White Sox
games, to name a few.
The Goodings Grove PTO
is hoping around 200 people
will attend the event, but they
said the more the merrier.
While it benefits Goodings
Grove, it is open to all community
members wishing to
attend.
“It’s a playground that’s
well past it’s prime, but it’s
also too small.” PTO member
Colleen Nowak said. “... You
can only get a small amount
of kids playing on this outdated,
overused playground.
It’s important for kids to get
out there and play, use their
imagination.”
A rendering shows one option of what the new playground might look like. image submitted