It has been said that the people lead and the government follows. There have been many examples of this throughout history. Pressure on politicians is what has moved this country. We now have a chance to see if that will be true in Cottage Grove.
Approximately two years ago, a few citizens of Cottage Grove, recognized a need. Cottage Grove is a rapidly growing community that is vastly underserved in services. There is a void because there is no teen center, library, pool, community gym, etc… We are also seriously lacking in city parks and equipment. We also had a village board that let it be known that we would not be spending money on needed services. That prompted some citizens to explore the possibility of a community “dream park”. Thus the idea of Cottage Grove Kid\'s Park was born! A group of very selfless citizens saw the need in our village and cared about the community enough to dedicate countless hours making it happen! That is what leadership looks like!
It was no easy task, as the Kid’s Park committee had to not only raise $170,000 in the midst of a recession and rapidly rising property taxes, they also had to overcome
extreme right wing politics from the Village Board. After all politicians have a long history of needing to take credit for projects like this. However, the majority of the community also saw the need and took to the project. After numerous fundraisers, golf outings, etc… the park was built this past week. Over 1000 volunteers from the community got together and built the park from scratch in 5 days. It is very moving and awe-inspiring to see a populace come together and build such an amazing treasure in a community that needed one. The camaraderie and friendships forged will hopefully last as long as the park. To see the hundreds of kids running around the whole park at the grand opening with HUGE smiles on their faces was a memory that most will not soon forget!
NOW is the time for the local government to follow. While the CG kids park is amazing, it needs help. There is no shelter, no bathroom facility, no drinking fountains, no bike path to the park and the roads leading there are in desperate need of repaving. The main thing I heard while helping build the park was: “This is amazing. Where are the bathrooms?”
The people got together and built a perfect park, now it is up to the government to follow through. It should not be up to another fundraising effort by the community to put up bathroom facilities. The Cottage Grove Kid’s Park is now part of \"The Commons\", so everyone has a stake in it.
Let’s complement the amazing work that the kid’s park committee did and make this whole area one to be proud of. We now have a diamond in our community, do you want it to be on a plastic band or will we do it right and put it in the beautiful setting it deserves!
Stay Tuned.
PS: Here is the contact information for the Cottage Grove Village Board: You can contact President Diane Weidenbeck , Paula Severson , Jennifer Pickel, David Viken , Jeff Weigand, Micah Zielke or Ken Dahl . Feel free to tell them: follow the leader and the example that the kid’s park committee has set! Let’s do the right thing for our community!
PSS: Thank you again to the CG kid’s park committee, the work you did will be appreciated not only by our family and our kids, but hopefully our grandkids someday and beyond. It is a lasting legacy you can be proud of!
PSSS: We are also a little short in our fundraising. Please go to www.cgkidspark.org Thanks!
