A ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of phase two of Perryville’s Lucas & Friends Backyard Adventures takes place beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at the all-inclusive playground, located at 215 S. French Lane, across the street from Hoeckele’s Bakery and Deli.
Phase II brings new inclusive play equipment to the existing playground, including two zip line Rail Riders, a Turnabout Spinner, a large swing set with inclusive swing seats, and two large shade structures to provide relief from the sun in the hot summer months.
The playground is named for a young man named Lucas Fritsche, who was inspired to create a place where all kids could play together when he was just 8 years old. His mother, Jennifer Fritsche, recalled the day when her son, who is on the autistic spectrum, came home from school talking about a classmate who was in a wheelchair.
“Lucas noticed that he did not go outside for recess like they did,” she said. “It bothered him, so he was asking him why. His friend explained how it was hard to go out there, so he chose not to go a lot. Lucas came home very bothered by the fact that his friend wasn’t going to recess with the rest of them, and he told me about it. I said, ‘Well, you know that’s just sometimes unfortunately the way it is. Then he started telling his teachers and principal that I was building him a playground. And I’m like, ‘No, I’m not building a playground.
“So, the long story short of that was we did a presentation at the school to make some improvements at the school. They were actually getting started with their bond that the school got for all the new buildings and stuff. It was promised that they would build a good playground that was fully accessible when they were building. They thanked Lucas and whatever else. Well, the mayor, Ken Bahr at the time, had heard about this and it snowballed into ‘we’ll give you the land if you will fundraise and build a playground like Melaina’s in Cape and Braden’s in Ste. Gen. I actually was able to find 10 committee people that have been with us the whole time for seven years.”
Once it was determined that the first phase of the project would cost $500,000, the committee began fundraising. Thanks to the support of the local community and generous donors, Lucas’s dream was realized, and on Oct. 30, 2021, the playground celebrated its grand opening. “And now phase two is what we are finishing up now,” Fritsche said. “It’s right around $200,000. We did get a land and water grant to help us with the final funding on phase two, which went through. So, we had to fundraise a matching amount for phase two. Now we officially have it in and installed and we’ll have the ribbon cutting on Saturday. It’s been seven years that we’ve been fundraising.”
Fritsche said that, in addition to the additional all-inclusive play equipment in phase two, there is a quiet grove in the corner. “The quiet grove is for kids with autism or kids that get overstimulated,” she said. “They can sometimes have a meltdown. A family would usually have to leave the playground and take the whole family home because you just need to remove the child from the situation. The quiet grow is designed with panels with some play stuff in it and a bench that the parents take the kiddo over to help them calm down, relax. Then they’re able to go back and play and not have to leave the playground.
“The playground equipment people had been working on that for a while and had even asked Lucas a few questions like what would you want in something like this? So, he has a lot of pride in that piece of equipment. And then we have something called the roundabout. It is a surface-even merry-go-round. Wheelchairs can go straight on the merry-go-round, and kids can be on it too. It spins around like an old merry-go-round. And then we have a set of swings. We have two regular swings, a buddy swing that a parent and a kid can ride at the same time, and then we have a handicap swing.”
Asked how it feels to have both phases completed, Fritsche said, “It’s surreal is probably the best way to say it. I would say that we are very excited and emotional because there’s been a lot of time and effort that has been put into this project. We’ve seen firsthand and heard stories about how many people it helped when phase one opened. To actually have the project done, there’s really no words of how it feels. Even for Lucas. He’s 17 now, so he’s a full-blown teenager. He may not play on the playground anymore, but he goes there and he’s very excited, and like he said — humbled — because he sees what it does for his friend and for other people now. To learn that kind of lesson at his age is pretty crazy. He’s very honest and blunt. He just came up with an idea and everything else just happened, but it’s something that is gonna be with Perryville forever."
Fritsche said that Hoeckle Bakery and Deli will be donating donuts and Scooter’s will be donating hot chocolate. The Perryville Chamber of Commerce will be in charge of the ribbon cutting.
