Eagle Scout project brings new playground to Booth Lake
By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
Between a wet spring and the historic summer flooding, East Troy Boy Scout Rogelio Hayes began to wonder if his Eagle Scout project of building a new playground at Booth Lake Memorial Park was ever going to happen.
“I planned to start construction in early May but the spring rain made the ground really wet and I couldn’t get the excavators in there to start digging until June,” he said. “Then the flood came and the swimming pool happened.”
Unfortunately for Hayes, a swimming pool wasn’t part of his playground plans.
“It made it very hard to trudge through and just build in general,” he said. “I worked through the flooding, but it slowed me down a lot.”
It was with the help of his dad, Roger Hayes, and a crew of dedicated friends, that he was able to get the playground done.
“I had a crew of about eight, other than me and my dad,” Rogelio Hayes said. “Todd and Tyler Jackson helped out, along with Jacob Smith, Billy Dominski, Gary and Jacob Kosenko, Alec Marcinkevic and Bryson and his dad, Mr. Rauworth. They all helped.”
Rogelio Hayes said the community support he received to help him build the playground was “amazing.”
“I’m so thankful to all those who donated and helped and I’m thankful to God for giving me the strength to get through everything that was going on,” he said. “My parents were so supportive and the people at Booth Lake were so patient with everything. I’m just grateful it all worked out.”
The playground cost about $14,000 with the landscaping, play structure and other amenities. The structure was the most expensive part of the project, costing $8.
“It has three slides, a bongo drum, pirate’s wheel and three climbers,” Rogelio Hayes said.
The breakdown for the rest of the project includes: wood and construction items, $600; cement, $275; landscaping, $2,500; touch-up paint, $40; rocks, $750; and benches, $1,800.
“So many people and businesses donated; we couldn’t have done it without all of them,” Rogelio Hayes said.
Area businesses, civic organizations and the Village of East Troy donated about $9,600 to the cost of the playground. The rest of the money came from individual donors.
“Some businesses donated ‘in kind’ services like the money from Four Seasons for landscaping,” Rogelio Hayes said. “But every donation helped. We needed everyone’s help to get this done.”
While the dedication of the playground will take place Memorial Day weekend in 2018, the area is open for kids to use.
“We don’t have the date of the dedication set yet, but hopefully it will be Saturday, May 26,” Rogelio Hayes said. “We’ll be dedicating it to the local veterans – past, present and future. It’s something that’s important to me.
