Strong community support created the original Kid’s Zone

Kid’s Zone was the perfect illustration of community.

The wildly popular play area in Greer Park started as an idea from a single man and initially was spearheaded by one civic organization, but it was community that brought Kid’s Zone to life in 2000 — from financial and material donations to the labor that built the complex.

While fleshing out the idea, creating designs, fundraising and planning took months, it was a single week between groundbreaking on Oct. 1 and the paper chain cutting that opened the completed park to city youth on Oct. 8, with people from all walks of life coming together in what many described as an old-fashioned barn-raising.

It was multiple civic groups, builders and construction businesses, city and federal governments. It was skilled builders who knew what they were doing, working beside dads and moms who came to tote mulch and lumber, but ended up learning how to use hammers and saws. It was young soldiers from Fort Sill working alongside children who came with Mom and Dad. It was a photographer who came to document the work for local media, but stayed to use his building skills. It was people who wanted to know what was going on, then stayed to help. It was restaurants who made sure work crews were fed. It was people who couldn’t handle power tools or tote heavy loads, but knew they could support those who did.

Connie Myott was one of those supporters.

Myott was new to Lawton: she, her husband and their three elementary-aged children had moved from Austin, Texas, to Lawton in 1998 and she was still settling in. A stay-at-home mother, Myott said she wanted to get involved in the community, and Kid’s Zone presented that opportunity.

“One morning, I heard on the radio that Lawton needed volunteers to help build a playground. I thought, ‘This is just what I needed to become part of the community and meet wonderful people,’ ” she said.

She became a member of the Children’s Committee, serving alongside Robin Dooley, Kessie McKenzie and Susie Irwin. It’s easy to remember the names: they’re still good friends, almost 25 years after they met.

It was an active committee, with members working with elementary children as they spearheaded activities and fundraisers. One was hand-printed tiles, fired by students at Great Plains Technology Center after little ones placed their handprints (and sometimes footprints), along with their names. The tiles still adorn the walls leading into the play area and will remain part of the new playground.

“The children were so excited and happy that they were a part of creating a Lawton playground for them to play,” Myott said. “All the members of the playground project were so excited and overwhelmed with the thought of building this playground one board at a time, for all to enjoy and provide a safe environment for the children to play.”

Myott’s children are adults now, so she doesn’t have much reason to go to Kid’s Zone. But, she made a special trip last week to look around and remember. Others were doing the same thing, and Myott said it makes her smile to see the community still enjoying the park, almost 25 years after it was created.

“I was part of that. People were part of that,” she said, adding she wanted to visit before a new and improved Kid’s zone playground is created.

David Denham and his wife Diane had multiple ties to the project. Denham was president of the Great Plains AMBUCS in 1999-2000, and it was AMBUCS who took the initial lead.

Denham said the idea Mark Glenn brought back to Lawton after he saw a similar structure in Santa Barbara, Calif., took firm root, first with AMBUCS then with the community. He remembers his wife was one of those who got excited about the project, taking on the role of helping to arrange breakfast, lunch and dinner for workers putting in long days. Her job was to make arrangements with the local restaurants donating food to feed the volunteer work force, and everyone was excited to play their part.

“That was her main motivation: the excitement of planning it all, creating it and seeing the big picture,” Denham said.

Vic Menendez said while that excitement was evident from the beginning, even the most enthusiastic supporters were impressed by how much the community wanted to help.

AMBUCS designated Menendez as project treasurer, and he remembers his conversations with Glenn, predicting fund-raising benchmarks the community eagerly helped them meet.

“We had people like McDonald’s call and say, ‘can we give you money?’ We said yes, do you have some?” he said, with a laugh, remembering McDonald’s response was “Will $7,500 do?”

McMahon Foundation helped, under a fund-matching arrangement that helped spur donations. But, Menendez said it was everyday people who made it work, volunteering time, money, materials. He remembers everyone wanted to help, from former baseball great/Lawton native Randy Bass, who came out as a work volunteer every day, to elementary children who made links for a paper chain so long, it looped around the playground several times.

“It took an hour or so to put it around the playground,” Menendez said.

The enthusiasm stayed strong.

“People came out of the woodwork,” Menendez said. “People lent us saws, everything. We had all the lumber places donating whatever we needed.”

That enthusiasm carried through all aspects of the work. As the project took off, organizers put three work shifts into place, and there briefly were concerns about feeding workers.

“Then, phones started ringing off the wall,” he said, with a laugh.