“For me it just felt like it would be safer to have a fence, even though it doesn’t completely block the kids in, it just prevents them from going up and over the hill or darting towards the pond and you trying to catch them. It just felt like it was a safer option, similar to the Fort Liberty Park,” Barger said.
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Because the park is handicapped accessible, the fence won’t encircle the whole playground.
Maureen Mowl, the club’s secretary, said fence picket sponsorships — people can have their family or business names put on them — are $50 for individuals and $100 for businesses and there will be four benches that can be personalized for $250.
During the first phase of the project, Mowl said they hope to collect $5,000 for the pickets and parts and installation. They started this first-ever fundraiser in the fall after they got more than 200 signatures on a petition from people supporting the project. The township sanctioned putting the fence in the park, and the MOMS Club has sold 20 pickets so far.
Mowl said she believes they will reach their goal.
“It’s just getting people to buy into leaving a legacy at a local park,” Mowl said. “Having them commit to saying, ‘Oh, that would be a neat thing to bring back my child when they are older and say look, you helped support this, our family helped build this fence around the park, it’s in your family name.’ ”
Liberty Twp. Trustee Steve Schramm met with the moms and estimated the cost of the project for them. He said he thinks the fundraiser will be successful, but if extra funds or labor are needed, he said the township could help..
“I believe they can very easily meet the materials (pickets) side,” Schramm said. “And then potentially use volunteers or maybe the township can provide some staff to dig post holes and do other things. I think they’ll probably get there on their own.”
The MOMS Club of Liberty Township is a local chapter of the international non-profit organization and is a support group for stay-at-home moms, those who work part-time or from home.
The group offers activities for moms and their children for an annual membership due of $20, according to Tracy Egloff, president of Liberty Twp. chapter.
Egloff, a mother of four ranging in ages from 3 to 10, said it was a Godsend for her.
“It saved me. I worked for 10 years, you have a career and then when you stay home, it’s like oh my gosh what am I going to do,” she said. “You think it’s going to be easy. There were some neighbors around that told me about it and I went to it and I was like this is definitely what I need.”
Moms who are interested in joining or sponsoring the fence project can email libertytwpmoms@gmail.com or visit www.freewebs.com/libertymoms/join.htm
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