Screams of joy sounded from children on the Winolequa Park playground Saturday afternoon.
Though the classic metal toys can still bring joy to the next generation of youngsters, park supporters see plenty of reasons why they need to go. Namely their age.
"When I went to grade school 55 years ago some of that equipment was out here," said Ron Heikkla, a member of the Winlock Park Board.
Saturday, the community of Winlock kicked off a $20,000 fund-raising campaign to replace the aging playground equipment at the city's only comprehensive park with an all community picnic.
The $20,000 goal is actually only phase one of an overall revamp of Winolequa Park supporters would like to see take place in the next several years.
The first goal is to replace playground equipment at the park with a larger playground similar to Penny Playground in Chehalis' Recreation Park. The current toys, including two swing sets, a small slide, monkey bars, a climbing toy and a buried tractor tire, plus some that has been removed due to liability issues, originally came from the playground at the Winlock grade school. When the school's multipurpose room was added, that equipment was removed and donated to the city for Winolequa Park, Heikkla said.
As a developed park, Winolequa (pronounced win-ol-e-kwa, as a mix between Winlock and Olequa) was built in the 1960s and 1970s with volunteer labor from community groups such as the Lions and Jaycees.
Besides a postage stamp of a park in downtown owned by the city, where the famed Winlock Egg rests, and a strip of parkland the Lions lease to the city, where events such as the Egg Days car show is held, Winolequa is the city's only park.
The ball field at the park is a memorial to a Winlock boy who died in a car accident at the age of 8. The picnic shelter is a tribute to the Winlock men who were killed in the Vietnam War.
"It's well used during the ball season but we want more people to use it," said park supporter Bonita Meyers. "I still run into people who don't know we have a park."
"That's one of the things, getting people up here and familiarized with the park and know what we offer here," Heikkla said.
The picnic Saturday included live music, hot food, kids games as well as games for bigger kids such as a horseshoe tournament and pinochle competition.
It also included an appearance of the mascot of the campaign: an 8-foot-tall chicken wearing an apron and holding a basket. Creator Meyers explained the hen's basket contains 20 eggs, one for every $1,000 they hope to raise for the park.
Each time the community raises $1,000 toward the cause, an egg will be removed and a chick will be returned in its place.
"A lot of times you set a goal too high and so the community doesn't see anything happen for a long time," said Rich Roberts, owner of Destiny Desserts and Destiny Pizza in Winlock, another organizer of the fund-raiser. "This way, the community gets to see its impact much sooner."
They hope to have the first $20,000 raised at least in the next year.
"If we keep things going the way it has been, if we get the momentum and have people getting involved I'd hope we can have the funds by March or April and we can start tearing out the old equipment," Roberts said.
The future playground at Winolequa Park will be a centerpiece for a long-term plan for the space, said General Cothren, who spearheaded the Saturday event.
Cothren put in a new stage at the park last week. He said the biggest goal supporters have turned their eyes toward is getting the money and environmental permits to build a bridge across the Olequa Creek on the west side of the property.
If they could do that, there are 17 more developable acres that could be added to the park for additional recreational space.
Dave Martin, Winlock, brought his kids ages 10, 8, 5 and 3 to the event Saturday. While the kids were having lots of fun playing on the swings and creating Mount St. Helens out of gravel on the playground, Martin said he envisioned some better equipment for Winolequa.
The old metal equipment was a far cry from the newer toys he's seen that have coatings that resist becoming too hot in the summer and more interactive designs.
"I think it's a great idea," Martin said of the fund-raising campaign. "I don't know what they're going to do but it would be nice to have some more modern stuff, some safer stuff."
Seeing old friends and a place she remembered from her childhood was the goal for Judy Kraush, Centralia, Saturday.
Kraush graduated from Winlock High School in 1955 and remembered playing at the property when she was a child, before there was a park. She had never been to the property since it had been developed into a park.
"It's nice," Kraush said of the park. "It's nice and woody and I like bluegrass music and I like cars and I thought it would be a good cause to support."
Carrina Stanton covers municipal government and health for The Chronicle. She may be reached at 807-8241, or by e-mail at cstanton@chronline.com.
