Splash Pad organizers hold Pumpkin Festival

Published by admin on Wed, 10/09/2024 - 7:00pm

Several people enjoyed a beautiful Saturday afternoon helping to raise funds for the splash pad project. The day featured games, food, music, bingo, face painting, cotton candy, Italian sodas and so much more. The organization is also selling tickets for a raffle for a .204 Ruger rifle. The drawing will be held after Thanksgiving. Photo by Philip A. Janquart
By: 
Philip A. Janquart
Organizers held a Pumpkin Festival at the Nazarene Church on Saturday to raise money for a splash pad in Weiser.
 The family-friendly event featured a variety of activities, including face painting, cotton candy and Italian Sodas, as well as the opportunity to buy tickets for a .204 Ruger rifle to be raffled off after Thanksgiving.
 Tickets are $25 each or $100 for five. Participants must be 18 years or older to purchase tickets and be able to pass a background check.
 The raffle went live Sept. 15, 2024 and will run through Thanksgiving or until 750 tickets are sold. Otherwise, the drawing will be held Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024.
 According to an online post, the drawing will be held live on Facebook on the Weiser Splash Pad page and the winner will be contacted shortly thereafter.
 You can call or text (208) 571-6964 or email weisersplashpadproject@gmail.com for more information. Visit https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/dc32e8bc-6039-4683-92b6-eec6f2c3abb2 to get detailed information about the gun being raffled off and to purchase tickets.
 Brittney Phillips and Kaitie Grindall are leading the effort to bring a splash pad to Weiser. The duo obtained 501c3 nonprofit status earlier this year.
 Phillips and Grindall have hosted several fundraisers since launching their project, beginning with a bake sale followed by a Valentine’s Day Daddy-Daughter Dance, a Spring Carnival and the Pumpkin Festival Saturday.
 “We have a little over $12,000, I think, right now,” Phillips told the Signal American Saturday afternoon. “It’s slowly creeping up.”
 The group has applied for at least five smaller grants, but need to find property before applying for the larger ones.
 “The one [property] we were looking at, I guess they are going to build townhouses there,” Phillips said. “The other one is over by the soccer complex. We’ve got to talk to my husband’s buddy who owns that and see if we could possibly work something out there.”
 Phillips and Grindall, who both have children, want to bring a splash pad to Weiser so families with kids have a place to cool off during the summer without worrying about deep water.
 Splash pads, also known as spray pools or interactive fountains, are aquatic venues that spray or jet water on users. They are commonly located in city parks, but can also be privately owned and operated on private land.
 There is no water depth, making splash pads ideal for younger children, though people of any age can, and do, use them.
Bringing a splash pad to Weiser is not a new idea. 
 Others have reportedly tried, but nothing to this point has materialized and the City of Weiser, which has researched adding a splash pad to the city’s pool facility, does not have money in the budget for maintenance.
 Public Works Supervisor Mike Campbell said the city could potentially find the roughly $600,000 it would take to put the splash pad in, but does not have the funds to sustain maintenance.
 Phillips said in April that her goal is to have the splash pad up and running sometime in 2025.
 

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

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