Playscape Recreation is proud to be the new representatives for Play & Park. My journey to this point started with my first born child and took me 17 years to get to. Many of you from our one light always flashing red town of Yates Center KS will remember the old wood structure that was lovingly built by our fire department. When my oldest was born, I had to walk everywhere with him, no car rides would sooth him only walks. As he was beginning to walk that wonderful old wood structure became a hazard for a first time mom, there were splinters, hot steel slides, nails coming out and loose boards. I approached the city about new equipment and there were some funds if I wanted to research as see what I could get. I then found a grant through the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and began knocking on doors to see what the community wanted, needed and willing to give. The chief of police helped write the grant, I gathered designs from various manufacturers, and waited. To my delight we got the grant, but of course there is much more expense than just the equipment. There was surfacing, installation, and a park that had been neglected for several years. So I volunteered my husband and Jerry Steinforth to install it. The city and rural fire departments helped paint, patch and repair old equipment and within the year a simple inquiry at city hall had the support of the community, and new equipment for the park. I enjoyed that so much that I volunteered my husband to help with other installs, and soon he became a certified installer for two major manufacturers and a Certified Playground Inspector. While I kept finding him jobs I worked in retail management for a major cellular carrier that eventually took us to Hawaii. My plans were to go for a year and then come back, three years later we got a call from one of the manufacturers that we installed several years for wondering if by off chance Jason would come back and build the Butterfly House Memorial in Joplin, MO in honor of the tornado victims. We were missing and needing to be back closer to family and the call came at just the right time. While he flew back I finished the Kid's school year, sold our belongings and came back. I moved back without solidifying a transfer, and immediately began helping on playgrounds, interviewing, and connecting with my nephew who was 5, he overheard a conversation about when I could be in Arkansas to manage a store near a place I love Kayaking. I hung up excited that I got a transfer, but when I looked down his eyes teared up and he said Aunt Kate I don't want my bestest aunt ever to leave me.....how do you resist that? So I hung up my corporate management hat and began helping with my husbands construction company and enjoying spending time with my kids. As a certified inspector Jason get's emails and I responded to an email looking for someone in Kansas is represent Play & Park, and a few months later here I am. Finally, I now don't only get to help build for the construction company, but I get own my own business helping others provide play environments. In addition to Play & Park equipment, we offer lines of dog parks, shades, shelters, memorial benches, and looking to add more in the future. From the smallest of projects to the largest we enjoy working with communities to provide the support they need to raise funds and construct their park projects. Throughout the years what started as a small park project has grown as I've seen a lot of successful and not so much parks go in at schools. As technology has advanced its nice to have a job where we work to create multiple generational inclusive play that connect with nature, education and fitness.
