PiCTuRe ThiS

From The (Play)Ground Up

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

Workers scurry
around the dedi-
cation marker at
the Akiva school
playground.

I

n the morning, there was nothing but an
open space and box upon cardboard box.
By mid-afternoon, there was a playground.
Last Sunday, Akiva parents, along with volun-
teers from the school and throughout the com-
munity, gathered behind the new Akiva
Hebrew Day School on 12 Mile Road in
Southfield. They arrived at 8 a.m. and worked
until after sunset to build a colorful new red-
blue-and-yellow playground, including a zip
line, a spring ring for jumping, swings and
slides.
fill Greenbaum of Southfield, whose daugh-
ter, Naomi, is in second-grade at Akiva, was
impressed.
"When we started this was just a pile of
boxes," she said. "We opened them, and no
one really knew what we had or what went
where. But everybody just started to work, and
you could really see it come to life."
As volunteers poured concrete and dug holes
for the new seesaw, a few teachers and guests
stopped by to admire the new Akiva building.
Cheerful signs with happy birds welcomed
younger boys and girls back to school, while
older students gave thumbs up to the computer
and science labs.
The playground committee, chaired by Dalia
Rogers and including Jason Rogers, Jill Green-
baum, Ariella Nadel, Julie Sherizen and Elaine
Kahn, worked for months to make the day a
success. Not only did they line up volunteers to
build the playground and secure the equip-
ment, they had plenty of tasty snacks on hand
(pretzels, if you wanted the healthy, low-fat
route; M&/V\s„ if you were in need of a deli-
cious sugar boost). The committee even
arranged for baby sitters and provided a com-
plete outline of activities to entertain the little
ones.
Near the end of the day, Dalia Rogers admit-
ted she was a little tired, but said it was all
worth the effort.
"Look at this," she said, watching men and
women put the finishing touches on a slide
decorated with happy fish and a clam. "Isn't it
great?" ❑

The manpower used to set a struc-
ture comes from Daniel Gotlib,
David Srolovitz, Ari Gotlib and
Ernest Greenfield.

Bradley Segelbaum, Aviel Hillman and Dovid Cardin
construct a slide bar.

Maynard Goldmeier of
Columbus, Ohio, adds his
expertise to make sure the
equipment is secure.

The play structure is
secured by nuts, bolts and
elbow grease supplied by
Allen Platt and David
Srolovitz.

Noam Linden and his brother,
Yochanan, of Oak Park help to
carry cement mixing bags, which
are vital to setting the play struc-
tures.

9/3
1999

Detroit Jewish News

79