HOISINGTON — What was old is now being renewed again with the help of many volunteers and community dollars. The Pride Park committee has raised in the neighborhood of $42,000, which is enough to buy the playground equipment.
“We’re really excited,” said City Manager Jonathan Mitchell.
The group has held fundraisers and applied for grants. The goal is to raise nearly twice that for other improvements.
The last upgrade
In 1993, the Hoisington Park and Tree Board members Grant Lane, Otis Weber, Lee VanScyoc, Steve Ritter, Patty Nicholson, Sandy Ray and Ceceila Conrad thought the city parks needed new and updated park equipment.  Andy Starbuck, a local student, decided for an Eagle Scout project, he would lend the group a hand by surveying K thought 3rd graders on what they would like to see in the parks.  Andy’s survey was of 210 children.
At this point, the Hoisington Park and Tree Board started to raise money for the project.  Cash donations were made by many local businesses. Due to the high cost of ready made playground equipment, the group asked the City Council if the Power Plant Staff could Build the Equipment.  The City Council approved their request and the power plant staff went to work.  Lowe, Dave Wondra, Bob Crutcher, Tom Brown, Fred Kline, Mark Bahr and John Carey were excited about the project.  The Dragster was born along with a lot of other equipment for the parks.
The dragster was showing its age and with the on going effort to raise money for the Pride Park Project the crew from Haunted Heights along with Springers Auto, CarQuest, J.D. Farmer and First Class Auto Design decided to help, the dragster was completely re-painted along with new tires and new decals made it’s first appearance at the 2012 labor day parade.  The dragster will be on display at several businesses and also be on display in front of the Haunted House in downtown Hoisington this month.  The dragster has become part of Hoisington and Pride Park’s history.
The group is still accepting donations.