Staunton ready to swing into action

By Tony Gonzalez

Published: September 24, 2008

The mulch waits in a pile, lumber and a swing set are on the way and the future homes of flower beds are marked by white spray-painted outlines in the grass.

A playground is getting a new look.

A community is coming together.

On Saturday, volunteers will converge on the playground at the corner of Stafford and Johnson streets in Staunton to put almost 300 plants in the ground and watch the rise of a new swing set. Then the two hours of work will give way to two hours of eating and playing in the parking lot of the Booker T. Washington Community Center.

But as Community Day organizer and Assistant Attorney General Phil Figura says, it’s not about putting plants in the ground.

“It’s about bringing the community together,” he said. “There are people out here that fight to make this a good community.”

A big part of that support comes from businesses, Figura said. More than $20,000 in materials already have been donated, including the flowers (from Lowe’s), lumber (from Blue Ridge Lumber Company) and food for 200 (from Chili’s).

“We want the local businesses to get invested in the community, so there’s sustainable change,” Figura said. “We don’t want to clean things up just for the day.”

From noon to 2 p.m., volunteers can enjoy a dunk tank, a National Guard game, a police demonstration and storytelling for children. Doctors will attend to perform eye exams, maintenance of eyeglasses, blood pressure checks and diabetes screening.

And the Rev. Elaine Rose will serve sweet potato pie, the signature dessert planned for Jazzy T’s Garden Cafe, a restaurant planned for West Beverly Street in Staunton that celebrated receiving the Lowe’s Hometown Hero award Wednesday. Jazzy T’s will be the site of an ex-offender program allowing non-violent parolees a place where they can work on job skills and satisfy parole requirements.

“I believe in that community,” Rose said of the Newtown and Johnson Street area. “They’ve had bad things happen, but we don’t need to dwell on that. We need to wrap them up and show them love.”

Figura said a similar community beautification day was a success in Harrisonburg.

For this weekend, he promised a non-political day of work.

“Rain or shine, bring your shovel, bring your rake, ride the trolley,” Figura said. “Come one, come all.”