Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
KEN SAARI paints a picnic table Wednesday in Kimball Park during a work event to improve the town's park.
By RICHARD JENKINS
KIMBALL, Wis. - A group of volunteers gathered at the Kimball town park Wednesday for a work bee to touch up the area.
The grassroots group Northern Iron County Engaged Residents, or NICER, organized the event that consisted of primarily giving several of the picnic tables and benches in the park a fresh coat of paint.
"I think it really spruces up the area. Kimball Park is a beautiful spot to come down, listen to the water of the Montreal River rushing by and just relax a bit," said Ken Saari, one of the group's organizers. "The tables were in good shape, but putting some stain on it helps a lot. It looks great."
The effort was already receiving praise from town officials.
"This is great, we really appreciate it," said Randy Stoltenberg, Kimball's parks and recreation chairman.
"It already looks 100 percent better," he told the group.
The work bee helps the town's effort to make improvements at the park, Stoltenberg said, which will also including repairing benches and tables as needed and adding more playground equipment.
"Just little things like that that make it more appealing to the town members," Stoltenberg said, adding the park's pavillion means the park can be used for events rain or shine.
Saari said NICER meets monthly to decide which projects to pursue next based on feedback from a community forum held in May. The group is focused on ways to make positive changes in Hurley and northern Iron County.
Another effort the group is working on is a regional scavenger hunt.
The group may be relatively new, but Saari said he is pleased with the progress it has made.
"Just like anything else, a new venture is going to take time to build up bigger support," he said. "But right now, we're happy with the core group we have and the volunteers that come out to help us out."
