PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Peace Park recently received some attention from a community group and now folks who enjoy the park have a place to sit and relax.
The Presque Isle chapter of Speaking Up for Us (SUFU) along with help from Lowe’s donated three new picnic tables to Peace Park on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
“Riverside Park and Mantle Lake Park are getting revitalized and there’s really no mention of Peace Park so when I saw that Peace Park wasn’t getting much attention I was a little discouraged,” said Terrence Reidy, chairperson for SUFU. “That’s why I brought to the group’s attention that we need to revitalize it.”
According to its website, the statewide organization is run by and for adults who live with developmental disabilities. Members of the local SUFU chapter spent the summer attending community events selling tickets for a fifty-fifty raffle to raise the $227 to purchase two tables. Lowe’s chipped in and donated the third table for free.
Presque Isle’s Parks and Recreation director Chris Beaulieu welcomed the new tables at Tuesday’s gathering, held at the park, which is bordered by the airport, State Street and Central Drive.
“Certainly this park can use a little love and some added picnic tables are going to help,” Beaulieu said. “Different neighborhoods use different parks and we want to make sure they all get some attention and get some upgrades when they need it.”
SUFU chapter adviser Krista Kennedy said the group’s members had “discussed the importance of a park having more than one table as it allows for families to be able to enjoy the park whether just sitting at the tables or having a meal. The group also plans on using the park on nice days for their meetings.”
Presque Isle SUFU representative MaryAnn Swank agreed that the picnic tables would give members of the organization and others a better opportunity to enjoy the local park.
Kennedy said the group is also interested in working on Peace Park to make it more handicapped accessible for others in the community to use. Swank added that she too would like to see more done to help the disabled enjoy the outdoors.
“It’s important to me because I want to see handicapped people have the privilege of seeing things, getting to go places and doing things,” Swank said. “You don’t see any parks having handicapped places in the park for disabled people, so we want a park that’s going to have something like that.”
