Document text
A handful of recent donations have put the city’s planned replacement for the playground at Bear Creek Park within $50,000 of a $610,000 fundraising goal. Medford Parks and Recreation officials announced last week that Sherm and Wanda Olsrud, for whom the much loved playground will be renamed, have made the largest private contribution to date. Medford Parks and Recreation Director Rich Rosenthal said the family requested that the city not disclose the amount of the donation. He said that the donated funds, from both the Olsrud family and the Oregon Community Foundation’s Olsrud Fund, make up a significant portion of the more than $175,000 in private cash contributions from residents and local businesses or organizations. Now-retired founders of Sherm’s Thunderbird Markets and Food 4 Less, the Olsruds are well-known supporters of youth-oriented programs and organizations, including 4-H, KidTime, the Rogue Valley YMCA, Kids Unlimited, Boy Scouts of America and Maslow Project. For decades, Sherm Olsrud has been known as a generous bidder at 4H auctions — selling meet from youth fairs in his stores — and for driving his old pickup truck adorned with stickers from various youth agricultural organizations. The Osruds’ son, Steve, said his parents were excited to learn the new playground would be dedicated in their honor. The couple, who lived across from the park along Siskiyou Boulevard for decades, were heavily involved in the original playground project. Constructed in 1988 via community volunteer labor, the play structure was designed by local children with help from Leathers Inc., an international playground building firm. Steve Olsrud said his family moved to the neighborhood in the late 1960s when the nearby park was “just a field full of weeds.” In addition to financial contributions and helping with volunteer work parties, the Olsruds fed volunteers who worked on the original play structure in the late 1980s. “I wasn’t part of that original playground, but my parents lived across the street from the park and they were very involved,” Steve Olsrud said. “Everyone in our family has certainly driven that road past the park a lot of times. “My dad’s best memories are of taking my kids to the park and always going over for concerts in the park or going for just anything that was going on over there,” he said, noting that younger generations, including a grandson, have used the park to play or for cross-country running. “The park is a big part of the community and my parents, when they found out, were just really excited and honored that the city would want to put their names on it. They actually just couldn’t believe the city would want to do that.” Rosenthal said that as construction time nears, momentum has been building. Last week, People’s Bank contributed $10,000 to sponsor a “Parent and Me” swing, designed for an adult and child to swing simultaneously. “We’ve got a lot of momentum right now and it’s all starting to really come together. It’s just a really beautiful thing to see,” Rosenthal said. “We are within the final $50,000 of funding that we need. We still have a lot of lines in the water, so to speak, so we are still focusing on fundraising but we aren’t as concerned about not having enough funds to install the playground. We are very close.” Reach Medford freelance writer Buffy Pollock at [email protected] . Volunteers needed The city of Medford needs volunteers to help install the new playground in Bear Creek Park. It currently has about 300 volunteers to fill about half the 3,100 work shifts scheduled. Parks and Recreation Director Rich Rosenthal said community participation is crucial to the project. “The big thing we really need to focus on right now is our need for volunteers,” he said Friday. “As of yesterday, we had about 300 volunteers who have signed up — many of those are working more than one shift — but we still have a lot of sign-up slots to fill. We do have some businesses and organizations who have indicated that their employees are going to be volunteering throughout the week.” Rosenthal said everything from skilled construction workers to residents willing to help with childcare, basic nail pounding, serving as “runners” or even with refreshments are needed. “There will be a huge need for skilled and unskilled volunteers. We will have three shifts per day. Weekday shifts, as of now, are the ones we are having a harder time trying to fill. We just want to encourage everyone to come out. It’s going to be a fascinating process to see it all unfold.” Construction is set for Sept. 29 through Oct. 6. For details on the project and how to volunteer, visit http://www.ci.medford.or.us/ .