Second-graders Eric Nguyen and Cali McIntire make music on xylophones on the new playground at All Saints Catholic School in Davenport.
By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — This summer, while dismantling old playground equipment at All Saints Catholic School, volunteers discovered a time capsule. This discovery led to the burial of a replacement time capsule as the new playground project was being completed.
All Saints’ secretary Lyndsay Maloney said the time capsule that the volunteers found during their digging had been buried in 1999, probably when mulching was replaced. The time capsule contained a soda can, newspaper, yearbook, candy wrappers, bag of Funyuns and a handbook.
Principal Mindy Altman asked eighth-grader Brody Wren to prepare a new time capsule for burial under the new playground. He decided to include a can of soda, a newspaper, list of top music artists in 2023, a new gym uniform, a yearbook and school supply list for the 2023-24 school year. He wanted to place a CD of popular recording artist Taylor Swift in the time capsule, “but I didn’t have the money to do that,” he said.
The new playground area is 16 feet longer and includes a variety of play equipment for different age ranges such as swings, merry-go-round, two xylophones that make music, a puzzle and two climbing apparatuses. A bouncy surface surrounds the entire playground. New fencing will be installed.
On Aug. 30, Zeke Ridgway and his second-grade classmates were the first to use the new playground. His family donated to the school’s fundraising gala for the privilege of using the new equipment first, Maloney said.
Second-grader Eric Nguyen said, “The new playground is fun. It has more stuff and it’s bigger.” Classmate Cali McIntire said, “My favorite part is the swings and that we have more space.”
Cost of the new playground — including demolition and new equipment and installation — was around $300,000, of which the Scott County Regional Authority gave a grant for almost $75,000. The annual gala raised another $15,000. An additional $25,000 also has been donated. To make donations to help pay off the remaining costs, go to the school website at https://www.ascsdav.org and click the online payments button on the right and scroll down to the playground.
