Ponderosa ready for a fun picnic at the park

The Courier-Herald

It was a dream-come-true morning June 18 when Ponderosa residents and other community members took delivery of a new cement picnic table at its park.

Its arrival will come in handy beginning Thursday when the Bonney Lake Food Bank expects to serve an estimated 450 lunches to youths from the site over the next nine weeks.

The dream is the fruition of Hazel Stewart, a Ponderosa Homeowners Association member who donates time to the Bonney Lake Kiwanis and food bank.

“I approached the Kiwanis and asked if they knew of anywhere where we could get a table for the park,” she said.

Members recommended Evergreen PreCast, a Sumner-based company specializing in concrete products.

Stewart checked with company president Jim Wolfe, who offered her a table for $500 - nearly a $300 discount form its retail price. She then approached her peers through the Kiwanis and asked for help. With community members' support behind her, she was able to come up with the $500 commitment, she said.

Then, the tables turned when the company contacted Stewart with the final numbers.

“Low and behold, they'd do it for $250, with no installation charges,” she said.

On hand to receive the table from Evergreen PreCast's Rhett Daniels were, in addition to Stewart, PHA board members Blaine Wesner, Brad Doll and Janice Harrison and Kiwanis members Rex Pulfrey, Glenn Wilson and Duane Tidball.

But they weren't the only ones pleased with the new park addition. So was Wolfe.

“They do a lot of good for the community,” he said. “As long as they get a lot of good use out of it, I'll be happy.”

And because of their dream to serve the community, Wolfe had even better news in store for them. “I'll probably just rip up the check,” he said. “I'm happy to do this for them.”

Plans for the park's growth and upkeep are on the forefront of Stewart and Janice Harrison, who hope it will be annexed in to the city by 2010.

“I'd like to eventually see this park get nice, covered shelters and barbecues,” Harrison said. “But it's one step at a time.”

And for now, that step is in knowing that youths 18 and younger can receive a free, nutritious lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday through Aug. 29. And sit at their new table.

“My hope is that the community will see that when we work together, good things happen,” Stewart said.

Judy Halone can be reached at jhalone@courierherald.com.