Partnerships build playground at Lions Club Park

SEELEY LAKE – "We've had no complaints from any of the Seeley Lake kids," said Jackson Lee, Missoula County Parks & Trails Project Specialist. He laughed and added, "They seem all excited."

After more than two years of planning, raising funds and preparation, the much-anticipated new playground at the Seeley Lake Lions Club Park, on the corner of Cedar Lane and Elm Drive, is nearly complete. Lion and Playground Project Leader Rich Westin said the partnership with Missoula County in collaboration with the Lions Club and the community were the key to this success.

"To finally have the rubber stamp of approval from the county for stuff I've been brainstorming in my head laying awake at night, finally it was a relief," Westin said. "Building it is actually the easiest part of all of this. It is a great sense of satisfaction."

"We are excited to see this come together and open it up for use," Lee said. "I think it will be a great resource for the community."

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In his estate, the late Lion Neil Ruttenbur left a "sizable donation" to the Lions Club. Westin said he requested it be used for the construction of a playground. Ruttenbur faithfully plowed the ice rink during the winter for many years and helped maintain the Park prior to Westin taking the lead.

The Seeley Lake Lions Club secured funding from the last two grant cycles through the Missoula County Parks and Trails Matching Grants Program for improvements at Clearwater Park, locally known as "the Lions Club Park." The Lions received a matching grant for $16,988 in 2021. They purchased a Kubota tractor as an in-kind match to the grant. The Kubota is used for snow removal on the ice and walking path and other maintenance at the Park.

In addition to the county grant and Lion Ruttenbur's legacy donation, the Lions Club also raffled off a Polaris Ranger with a snow blade that they were using to clear the snow. It was worth around $3,300 but the Lions raised more than $7,500 to support the playground.

Westin said people bought raffle tickets that had no interest in winning the Ranger but felt the town needed a park.

"I can't stress how much fun it was to meet the community selling the tickets," Westin said. "Everyone here is just so proud of their town. It is one of those things that people take ownership of something and then whatever you are going to do to it, they are actually interested in it."

In 2022, the Lions received the second part of the matching grant for another $16,988. This was matched through fundraising and in-kind labor.

"In honor of [Neil's] legacy and with huge community involvement, we raised additional funding and applied for the matching grant program," Westin said after receiving the second Parks and Trail Matching Grant. "Having been approved for this grant, we are just overjoyed. This is a great example of what can be accomplished when the community partners with their local government officials. It's a win-win."

The Parks and Trails Matching Grants Program leverages partnerships with local non-profits and community groups to maintain county parks and other public recreation areas. In these partnerships, the Parks, Trails and Open Lands Program provides planning assistance and funding, while the partner organization matches those funds through a combination of project expenses, in-kind donations and volunteer service hours.

Lee said the original intent of the Matching Grant Program was to address the need for taxpayer dollars to come back to rural communities. Each year, Parks and Trails awards up to $50,000 for projects outside of Missoula City limits. Since the program started, Lee said they have distributed nearly $1 million of bond matching grant funding to rural communities in Missoula County.

Westin said he was onboard from the beginning of the Lions' Club playground concept. Once they dug into it more, he learned they needed to have a specific type of playground that was compliant with Association for Disabilities Act requirements.

"It turned into an actual real, certifiable project that will be guaranteed," Westin said. "That is where we couldn't have done it without the County. They provided all the requirements, the code and everything."

Westin said their budget was around $50,000 but that included purchasing the Kubota. Last year when the Lions Club proposed a playground design, Westin said, "the County came up with a larger one."

The normal price for the playground equipment was $44,000 but Westin said they got it half price due to a winter order. The swing set was non-negotiable from the feedback that they received.

"For a playground of this size and quality, it is far under budget for what you would see all because of the Lions and the community coming together and those in-kind services," Lee said.

Deer Creek Excavating donated the heavy equipment and 12 hours the weekend of Aug. 6 to clear and level the area for the playground. Owners Gary and Cheryl Lewis and their daughter Samantha Arroyo and her husband Marcos are all active members of the Seeley Lake Lions Club. Marcos, who works with the family business, said they would be there anyway. However with the equipment and ability to operate it, they can make the work more efficient.

"It is important to represent the Lions Club in as many of the things that we can do. We wouldn't let anyone else do this work. We are significantly invested in this park already – a lot of this is Gary," Marcos said. "Now I get to help with another chapter of this for another generation of Lewis family Lions. It is stuff like this that lasts forever. For us you can't put a price or a profit margin on these types of things. It is the only time that we get to use these machines because we want to, not because we have to."

Westin said the Lions Club Park used to be a pit. But thanks to the work of Lewis, it is now a pond with birds, wildlife and a place for families to enjoy.

"Everything you see here today was Gary," Westin said. "Gary's name is on the wall for a reason."

The week of Aug. 13, volunteers from the Lions Club, community and more than a dozen Scheel's employees helped assemble and install the equipment.

Brendan Severy, Westin's stepson and shop manager at Scheels in Missoula, put a sign up at the store for the Saturday workday. Scheels' employees volunteer two to three times a month for various things around Missoula.

"No matter what, we want to give back to our community," Severy said. "We volunteer and have a lot of fun."

"It is important because our club is kind of aging," Westin said. "Most of the people are retired and then there are people like me who are retired but I'm still healthy but a lot of people can't do this. Without them this wasn't going to happen. We would have to hire and that would have been another $4,000."

"The fact that we have Scheels, the Lions and County representatives that wouldn't necessary happen outside of a county project just because of that need to be resourceful with what we have," Lee said adding in Missoula they contract most of the work.

The concrete footings were poured Aug. 17. Once that is cured, the Lions Club will install timbers around the equipment and add a one-foot base of engineered wood bark for fall protection.

"Once that engineered bark is on we will remove the netting and it will be ready to go," Westin said. "Please stay off of it until the netting is removed."

Westin said the Lions Club will also install a plaque recognizing everyone who donated their time, talents and money to support the new playground. They are looking forward to upgrading the picnic benches and adding more lawn around the park as well. Other ideas include adding benches around the playground for parents to sit and enjoy watching their children play.

"The partnership model is key for laying the groundwork," Lee said. "But really it is the Lions' initiative as to why this is here. Rich gives a lot of credit to the community, as he should because the community came together, but it has been a lot of organizing by the Lions to have this large hole in the ground at this point and in a couple days a playground."