Ker Park Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Includes Members Of Ker Family
July 27, 2021 at 11:37 p.m.
Ker Park Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Includes Members Of Ker Family
By David [email protected]
Paisley, 6; Emberley, 4; and Oakley, 2, then slid, climbed and spun on the two playground sets – one for ages 2 to 5 and the other for kids 5 to 12. Dotson said it wasn’t the first time he brought his daughters there to play.
Their smiles and fun was exactly what city officials want to take place at the park.
Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer opened the ceremony by thanking everyone for coming out and giving a history of the park.
In 1989, Dalton Foundries and Jessie Ker purchased the land in memory of her late husband, Charles H. Ker, former Dalton president, and donated the land to the city of Warsaw. Three years later, the sign for Ker Park was put up, but there was just grass to go with it.
In 1994, the Park Department developed it by putting in sidewalks. The sidewalks were the first “stamped” sidewalks in the city’s park system, Plummer stated, and then the playground system was put in.
The city developed a Stellar Communities plan for Ker Park in 2016 that included new playground for ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12, Plummer said.
“As you can see, we’ve got that now, thanks to Connie Ker and her donation through the Ker family. Connie is here today with her grandson, Kevin. We’re so glad to have them here with us today,” he said.
Connie is the wife of the late Charles A. Ker and she donated the 2-5-year-old playground equipment and benches for the park.
The city received a matching grant on the big playground equipment piece from Sinclair Recreation, so the Parks Department spent $50,000 and got $100,000 in playground equipment.
Park employees installed all the equipment and did the concrete work. The drinking fountain was donated by Indiana American Water. By Park employees doing the labor, approximately $40,000 in costs were saved, Plummer estimated.
He thanked Rocki Stillson, northern Indiana sales representative with Sinclair Recreation, and Wendy Mink, Midstates Recreation recreation consultant and inclusive play design specialist.
“It’s just a great feeling for me to see this park come to life again and watch young kids play on this. We’ve had families every night that I’ve went by here. It’s a big hit for the neighborhood and we’re just happy,” Plummer concluded.
Connie Ker then explained her involvement in the playground upgrade.
“On the coldest day in February, I drove by this barren park. There wasn’t anything here, not even a sign and I thought, ‘How can we bring this back to life?’” she said.
She contacted Plummer on a day it was below zero. Plummer told her he had some ideas, and they moved forward from there.
“I was happy to be part of it and represent the Ker family,” she said before introducing Kevin, the grandson of Charles H. Ker and the son of Charles Ker. There were four generations of Ker in Warsaw, Connie said, with the first three generations all named Charles. Kevin is the fourth.
“I raised all my children in Warsaw, and they loved the playgrounds. They loved the parks. And you never forget that. And these neighborhood parks allow parents the opportunity to not have to drive distances to get there,” Connie said, noting how Ker Park was a beautiful park in a beautiful spot. “So, just paying it forward.”
Stillson then thanked Plummer. She told him, “I think that you and your department are fantastic stewards of Warsaw’s money and the people’s money, and we are all lucky to have servants like these and citizens like the Ker family, which is why we (GameTime) decided to give an award.”
In presenting the award, GameTime Midwest Business Development Manager Ron Blake said, “This is not your typical playground. This is a different type of playground.”
He thanked Plummer, Maintenance Director Shaun Gardner and their team; Connie Ker and the city of Warsaw for “your leadership and vision in working together in creating this playground and bringing it to life today by utilizing proven research and turning it into practice to promote physical activity and fitness in the design of Ker Park playground.”
Blake said the Ker Park playground is recognized as a national demonstration site by implementing the principles of play-on design – “best practices to promote physical activity through play while encouraging your children natural progression of skill development through the movement of safe risk-taking through the years of their growth.”
The playground incorporates the six principles and the six elements of play, he said, including balancing, overhead climbing, climbing, spinning, sliding and swinging, all of which can be found on the playground.
“It’s all needed in the continuous development of a child while also meeting and supporting the national physical education standards and the efforts to combat childhood obesity,” Blake said.
On behalf of GameTime and its employees, Sinclair Recreation and himself, Blake presented Plummer with a framed certificate.
At the playground is a sign with a QR Code. Blake said the QR Code takes people to a quick survey to provide feedback on the playground. That feedback is then used by GameTime to help create new playgrounds and by Sinclair to be future advocates for playgrounds and parks.
Mink said she represents Midstates Recreation, which is PlayWorld, and they provided the 2-to-5-year-old structure. “There’s really nothing more to say, other than I’ve been to a lot of neighborhood parks and you guys have knocked it out of the park. This is truly a beautiful example – what kid would not want to come here and play? So, I’m just so excited for this neighborhood,” she said.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer wrapped up the ceremony by saying, “Larry, I want to give you and the Board a hand. This is what happens when someone mentions stewards of our money, when we plan, when we look forward, when we have our community input to decide what the community wants, what they need. Along this trail system that is connecting our communities, this is just an asset that goes beyond what I thought it was going to be.”
He said he brought his grandchildren to it and they call it Slide World because the park features about 10 slides.
“(You) just did a marvelous job. And, again, the Board needs to understand how critical their role is and that five-year planning and taking that public input and giving our community what it wants. And I certainly agree that these neighborhood parks are just fabulous for young families that don’t need to get in the car. They can get on the bikes, walk down here with the strollers and come from some pretty good distances with this nice path in place. There’s a destination now that’s worthy of their trip, so thank you very much to everyone who was involved,” he concluded.
Paisley, 6; Emberley, 4; and Oakley, 2, then slid, climbed and spun on the two playground sets – one for ages 2 to 5 and the other for kids 5 to 12. Dotson said it wasn’t the first time he brought his daughters there to play.
Their smiles and fun was exactly what city officials want to take place at the park.
Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer opened the ceremony by thanking everyone for coming out and giving a history of the park.
In 1989, Dalton Foundries and Jessie Ker purchased the land in memory of her late husband, Charles H. Ker, former Dalton president, and donated the land to the city of Warsaw. Three years later, the sign for Ker Park was put up, but there was just grass to go with it.
In 1994, the Park Department developed it by putting in sidewalks. The sidewalks were the first “stamped” sidewalks in the city’s park system, Plummer stated, and then the playground system was put in.
The city developed a Stellar Communities plan for Ker Park in 2016 that included new playground for ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12, Plummer said.
“As you can see, we’ve got that now, thanks to Connie Ker and her donation through the Ker family. Connie is here today with her grandson, Kevin. We’re so glad to have them here with us today,” he said.
Connie is the wife of the late Charles A. Ker and she donated the 2-5-year-old playground equipment and benches for the park.
The city received a matching grant on the big playground equipment piece from Sinclair Recreation, so the Parks Department spent $50,000 and got $100,000 in playground equipment.
Park employees installed all the equipment and did the concrete work. The drinking fountain was donated by Indiana American Water. By Park employees doing the labor, approximately $40,000 in costs were saved, Plummer estimated.
He thanked Rocki Stillson, northern Indiana sales representative with Sinclair Recreation, and Wendy Mink, Midstates Recreation recreation consultant and inclusive play design specialist.
“It’s just a great feeling for me to see this park come to life again and watch young kids play on this. We’ve had families every night that I’ve went by here. It’s a big hit for the neighborhood and we’re just happy,” Plummer concluded.
Connie Ker then explained her involvement in the playground upgrade.
“On the coldest day in February, I drove by this barren park. There wasn’t anything here, not even a sign and I thought, ‘How can we bring this back to life?’” she said.
She contacted Plummer on a day it was below zero. Plummer told her he had some ideas, and they moved forward from there.
“I was happy to be part of it and represent the Ker family,” she said before introducing Kevin, the grandson of Charles H. Ker and the son of Charles Ker. There were four generations of Ker in Warsaw, Connie said, with the first three generations all named Charles. Kevin is the fourth.
“I raised all my children in Warsaw, and they loved the playgrounds. They loved the parks. And you never forget that. And these neighborhood parks allow parents the opportunity to not have to drive distances to get there,” Connie said, noting how Ker Park was a beautiful park in a beautiful spot. “So, just paying it forward.”
Stillson then thanked Plummer. She told him, “I think that you and your department are fantastic stewards of Warsaw’s money and the people’s money, and we are all lucky to have servants like these and citizens like the Ker family, which is why we (GameTime) decided to give an award.”
In presenting the award, GameTime Midwest Business Development Manager Ron Blake said, “This is not your typical playground. This is a different type of playground.”
He thanked Plummer, Maintenance Director Shaun Gardner and their team; Connie Ker and the city of Warsaw for “your leadership and vision in working together in creating this playground and bringing it to life today by utilizing proven research and turning it into practice to promote physical activity and fitness in the design of Ker Park playground.”
Blake said the Ker Park playground is recognized as a national demonstration site by implementing the principles of play-on design – “best practices to promote physical activity through play while encouraging your children natural progression of skill development through the movement of safe risk-taking through the years of their growth.”
The playground incorporates the six principles and the six elements of play, he said, including balancing, overhead climbing, climbing, spinning, sliding and swinging, all of which can be found on the playground.
“It’s all needed in the continuous development of a child while also meeting and supporting the national physical education standards and the efforts to combat childhood obesity,” Blake said.
On behalf of GameTime and its employees, Sinclair Recreation and himself, Blake presented Plummer with a framed certificate.
At the playground is a sign with a QR Code. Blake said the QR Code takes people to a quick survey to provide feedback on the playground. That feedback is then used by GameTime to help create new playgrounds and by Sinclair to be future advocates for playgrounds and parks.
Mink said she represents Midstates Recreation, which is PlayWorld, and they provided the 2-to-5-year-old structure. “There’s really nothing more to say, other than I’ve been to a lot of neighborhood parks and you guys have knocked it out of the park. This is truly a beautiful example – what kid would not want to come here and play? So, I’m just so excited for this neighborhood,” she said.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer wrapped up the ceremony by saying, “Larry, I want to give you and the Board a hand. This is what happens when someone mentions stewards of our money, when we plan, when we look forward, when we have our community input to decide what the community wants, what they need. Along this trail system that is connecting our communities, this is just an asset that goes beyond what I thought it was going to be.”
He said he brought his grandchildren to it and they call it Slide World because the park features about 10 slides.
“(You) just did a marvelous job. And, again, the Board needs to understand how critical their role is and that five-year planning and taking that public input and giving our community what it wants. And I certainly agree that these neighborhood parks are just fabulous for young families that don’t need to get in the car. They can get on the bikes, walk down here with the strollers and come from some pretty good distances with this nice path in place. There’s a destination now that’s worthy of their trip, so thank you very much to everyone who was involved,” he concluded.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092