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One MUDDY Good time in Cincinnati...
What do you get when you have one AMAZINGLY – handsome, humorous NFL player, an awesome Project manager, second and third and 2 weeks of rain/snow on a playground site…lots of good times.
While 99% of the PM staff was in Sunny California; Quarterback Justin “Smiles” Fitzgerald, the legendary Hall of Famer Bobby “It’s a Miracle” Cooper and Special Teams Carrie “I can’t feel my fingers” Fuller were in Cincinnati, OH, Building a playground with Madieu Williams and the community members of the Owls Nest Park. Don’t rush the field yet…let’s start with a mild crowd wave. It was a very chilly, MUDDY day in Cincinnati…did I mention MUDDY. Well we kicked off the sunny (47 degrees, MUDDY) day with 180 Madieu fans. Most of the volunteers said this weather was just lovely compared to the down pour of rain/snow they’ve had for the last 2 weeks.
Once the kick-off ended, teams blitzed out to their respectable positions. The post & deck and concrete teams took a deep breath before diving into the 2 feet muddy pit know as the playground site. Madieu was thankful to start off on assembling components but was soon ready to dive into the mud alongside the community members.
The community was blazing through the assembling of the components; while there were several volunteers painting benches, trashcans and picnic tables. Given that the playground was so saturated and a mud zone, we were not able to move mulch on to the site so we had volunteers move it to a more desirable location. The City will be coming back once the site dries and install the surfacing. We also had several community members plant new trees and remove overgrown honeysuckle bushes.
By lunch the sun had managed to help soften the ground so much that the playground structure was sinking. Justin, Bobby and the amazing Aaron (Installer from Playworld) huddled together and decided to put the enter structure into place and then worked to ensure it was level and not sinking.
After the playground was in place, crunch time ensued; team KaBOOM! & Madieu dived into the mud and were seconds away from completing a great place to play.
All with Madieu and his “Muscle Squad – Caleb and Bryan” we were able to get the structure in place for the Mayor of Cincinnati to cut the ribbon and thank everyone for making it possible.
After the ribbon was cut and the mud had started to harden, we said farewell to the volunteers and thanked everyone for a great team effort.
SHOUT OUT - Justin gets the Most Valuable PM in a “MUDDY” situation award. Bobby gets the, Most Memorable Play Award - making the structure stand on semi solid ground. Special thanks to CSC Natalie Sukienik for finding the community group. Carrie is awarded Best Cheerleader in a muddy situation, singing to Justin “It takes Two” by Rob MC.