Friday Update on September 8 2017
For a short week, lots happening:
· The Main/Grant Traffic Signal went from a major issue causing a huge delay to being a couple weeks ahead of schedule in about a day. Expect that the signal will be lit and operational by the end of September. Overall, good news.
· The City Park Playground is officially “closed” in preparation for the demolition and re-build. The party in the park was a huge success and a wonderful way for the playground to have its last hurrah of children playing. Look for the removal of the playground over the next two weeks in preparation for the new build.
· Project Playground is an all volunteer effort which needs people to sign up for the October 10-15 build. To sign up, go to
· https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c4fa5aa23a4f49-build
· They are also looking for some park captains for the week of the build. Please respond to this message or call Moyra Barsotti 530-392-6264. This is a critical part to the success of our build so please consider giving your time.
· Downtown Hotel is getting ready for the pour of the slab. I get to watch the entire project and I will tell you they are making progress. Look for the slab over the next week.
· Winters JUSD had a nice groundbreaking this week for the first building at Winters High School. A nice event prior to open house. The entire team at the District is working hard to improve the facilities at each of the school sites. The new building will house both science and culinary classrooms. It very exciting to see the progress being made.
· This is the first weekend of soccer!!!!
Finally a shout out and a plug for the work done by the past and now current folks involved with the construction of the City Playground. They truly represent what makes our community special and the deepest values which make Winters…..Winters.
At last nights “Party in the Park” we saw the reunion of many of the folks who organized and built the current structure back in 1989. These were folks (similar to Bobbie Greenwood and the town pool) who set a goal to build a very special playground to benefit the children of our community. They fundraised, organized, then designed and built a fabulous play structure. It is the definition of people coming together in a unified manner to do something of meaning. The result was something which has benefitted generations of children over the past 28 years!
I don’t dare try and name off all the folks who I know were involved (they know who they are) by I will tell you that they are some of the most generous and giving people I have ever met in my life. They have been deeply involved in the Winters Community in many facets and are the soul of why we have such an incredible place to live and raise our families. They put the town before self interest and invest their time and resources for something bigger than themselves. To say the community should be grateful to them is an understatement.
(I will share that the day before I interviewed to be the City Manager in Winters in 2001, my wife Kathy and I took our kids to the park and they thought it was the greatest playground they had ever seen. I read the plaque about the community coming together to build it and I was amazed. I remember asking our City Attorney John Wallace if the story was true and he told me that it represented what Winters is all about. John was right!)
The folks with Project Playground have taken on the huge task of replacing an iconic park through a similar process, having raised more than $400k, led a design process which professional planners would be challenged by and they are on the cusp of replicating a community effort which few can pull off, a second community build. Most communities just punt it to the city government to do because that is the easy way. Nope, not this group, they are digging deep and working harder to give the people of Winters a chance to do something bigger than themselves which will again, benefit the next few generations.
Project Playground is special and the build is an opportunity of a lifetime. This is a chance for you to come together with your neighbors, friends and future friends to build something for others. Take a couple days off work, come to the park and work side by side with others for the benefit of families and children. The result of your labor will not just be a structure, but more importantly, the joy and memories of childhood for thousands of kids and their families as they attack and climb until they are exhausted. They will go home tired with the goal of coming back the next day to do it all again.
The Project Playground team is that next generation who are perpetuating the values of Winters that great things for communities happen when the town works together on a common goal. This is your chance to not only help others, but a chance for you to do something for yourself by building something great.
Sign up, get your friends, neighbors and family to sign up. Make it a party!https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c4fa5aa23a4f49-build
Have a nice weekend.
John W. Donlevy, Jr., City Manager