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Playground In Memory Of Child Underway

HAWLEY — Volunteers were busy in Wayne County on Thursday, putting together a playground, a project that’s being done in memory of a 2-year-old boy....

HAWLEY -- Volunteers were busy in Wayne County on Thursday, putting together a playground, a project that's being done in memory of a 2-year-old boy.

The parts are all there in Hawley and a $300,000 playground project is underway at Bingham Park.

Soon this will be the site of the CJR Memorial Playground, a playground Joseph Regenski is building in memory of his 2-year-old son Caleb.

"He passed away so suddenly we knew that we would like to do things for other families that have gone through this and not even just this, but a child that's sick and in the hospital," Regenski said.

Caleb lost his battle with a brain tumor in 2007. Now his father, with the help of volunteers, fundraising, and grant money is working to build all this: an entirely ADA-accessible playground.

playground sketch

"We're just helping out as much as we can, putting little parts together, putting pieces of structure together and waiting to set the poles for later today," said Wayne County Builders Association member Ryan O'Dwyer.

Volunteers from the Wayne County Builders Association were on hand assembling these pieces carefully, following detailed, and somewhat difficult, instructions.

"Because you have some really good engineering type of people right here just on this little project, and it sometimes takes that," said George Anns.

With volunteers working hard to assemble all of the pieces and parts, they're hoping to have the playground all together by mid-October, for what would have been Caleb's birthday.

"Big slides, 12-foot slide, it's just going to be an interesting sight to see. I don't think there's going to be a place or a playground in the area anywhere like this, of this size," said Regenski.

Once it's done, volunteers say this is a place kids will love.

"Oh my gosh, I think I might use it," Anns said.

It will be a place Caleb's family hopes he enjoys as well.

"I'm thinking at some point, he'll be playing on this when we're not around," Regenski said.

Click here for more on the CJR Memorial Playground.

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