Yes!

Tonight while I gave a presentation to the city council about my dreams of building an accessible playground, initially the only things I noticed were my sweaty palms, shaky voice, and anxiety over the fact that the audio/visual guy hadn't got my power point presentation up in time.

Then I realized - they were all shaking their heads in agreement.... all the councilmembers, the mayor...... they were shaking their heads YES!

This positive reinforcement helped me to get through my presentation with more confidence - maybe a little too much confidence! I went over lots of details about the park and just came out and told them that I want them to donate two acres, community impact funds, and provide maintenance. I bit my tongue, and thought, 'That was too gutsy. They're going to hate me. I asked for too much and now they won't give me anything!'

At the end, I asked if they had any questions or comments. The only comments they had - and all of them made a comment - were positive. Things were said like: "We definitely want to help you do this," "We commend you for this undertaking," "Our community needs something like this," and my favorite - "How can we help?" During the presentation, I had mentioned that I made a goal to have the project complete in five years. The mayor said, "We would like to help you make this happen in two to three years."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The article I read that inspired me to pursue this project was about a place called Zach's Playground. One councilmember said it was his cousin who did that playground. He gave me her contact information so she can hold my hand through the process. Can you imagine anything better? It's like I was given a little fairy godmother! Another councilmember said his brother and sister-in-law had built a playground in memory of their deceased child. He gave me their contact information so they could give me ideas with fund-raising, etc. They also told me there was another citizen who brought this idea to their attention last year, and they said they would give me her contact information so she can team up to help this come to fruition.

All in all, I felt like everything could not have gone better than it did! The next step is meeting with the councilmembers after they think about different options for the location. I have a location I really, really prefer and I went over all the reasons why in my presentation. I'm hoping they will mull over what I said and just go ahead and go with that location. LOL - I sure am demanding, er uh hopeful! After we determine the location, then I'll really dig in with marketing and fund-raising. But let's be honest, we've got to get the house done before I do much else, but it shouldn't be too much longer!

So - question - do you like the name we've come up with? It was actually my dad's idea. We were talking about the park idea once and Chloe was playing with a stuffed sunshine toy. He said, "How about calling it Sunshine Playground?" I love it, but want your opinions!

I have loads of ideas and I'll share them all with you once I get all my ducks in a row. I know I will have so much support with this project, and I'm glad because boy will I need it!