By Mike Cappel, EAC Member
Next time you drive through Higginsport, Ohio, it may seem familiar. If not, peek into Colonel Higgins Park. The playset is from Montgomery.
About two years ago, the Higginsport playground was taped off and closed for safety, even though it looked solid. A ten-year-old Higginsport girl would have none of this. She went to the Village Council and asked for the playground to be repaired. Quite simply, the Village of 213 didn’t have the money. An easy end to the story, right?
Nope! That little girl read that Montgomery was replacing its Swaim Park Playground and asked what was going to happen to the old playground. I put her in touch with the City of Montgomery since Montgomery sells its surplus equipment to other cities. There were a few hurdles for the little girl to climb, though.
While Montgomery would provide the playground at a nominal cost, Higginsport had to provide transportation and installation costs. Estimates were that this would cost about $2000. The little girl decided to raise the money herself, with the Police Chief tracking the money. She parked a table in front of the Antique Bar and Grill and sold lemonade, energy drinks, and bracelets to anyone passing by. She organized a yoga in the park class and even offered a split-the-pot plank contest. Eventually, she raised the $2000, and Higginsport volunteers came to Montgomery and dismantled the playset. They took the playset back to Higginsport to store it for the winter.
In May 2024, volunteers completed the playground installation, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to come soon. But that little girl’s efforts sparked the spirit of change in Higginsport. In 2023 the community applied for and received a grant to improve Kayak access to the Ohio River. Coinciding with the completion of the playground, the community received a state of Ohio $6,000,000 + grant to redevelop the ballfields. Above and beyond the recreation-related changes, volunteers cleaned the basketball courts, cleanup days were started, a new Mayor was elected, and the community recently added six pallets of planters throughout the community.
In summary, surplus Montgomery equipment and the determination of a 10-year-old inspired rebirth of a small town in rural Ohio.