(Posted May 4, 2023)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
Lots of good things have been happening this spring at South Charleston Community Park, the most noticeable of which is restoration of the ball fields.
“They were in pretty bad shape. It had been a while since they had been properly maintenanced,” said Karman McGee Ogden, president of the South Charleston Community Club, the non-profit organization that oversees the park.
Thanks to a generous donation from the Carleton & Ruth Davidson Trust and proceeds from fundraisers like Christmas in the Village, the Community Club saved up $30,000 to resurface and install new drainage for the baseball field and softball field, both of which are used by Southeastern High School’s baseball and softball teams for practices and games.
In addition to creating a better playing experience for the local teams, the improved fields open up the Community Club to a potential new revenue stream.
“We’ve had people who reached out in the past asking to hold tournaments here, but we had to say ‘no’ due to the condition of the fields. Now, we can do those,” Ogden said.
Ogden is thankful for the volunteers who assisted with making the improvements to the fields.
“There were a lot of people who helped us to pull that off, including the baseball team and volunteers from the community,” she said.
Volunteers also helped to clean up debris around the park’s shelter house and play area following flooding of the nearby creek this spring.
Individuals familiar with Community Park will notice the new sign welcoming them onto the property. The sign was installed in late April. Mark Massie, the person who created the “Welcome to South Charleston” mural on a building on South Chillicothe Street last summer, created the sign.
Coming up on the Community Club’s to-do list are repairs to some of the children’s play equipment, replacing the mulch in the children’s play area, installing a handicap-accessible swing, and powerwashing and re-staining the bridge.
The club welcomes volunteers, new members, and donations to help complete such projects. The group meets at 6 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month at Village Chic, 17 S. Chillicothe St., South Charleston.
Anyone interested in helping out or getting more information can contact the club through Facebook. Search for “South Charleston Community Park.”
In addition to Ogden, club officers include Teresa Bryan, treasurer, and Mackenzee Litteral, secretary. A park board works in tandem with the club officers. Park board members are Brian Harbage, Joe Davlin, and Melissa Hanuska. Marc Mosier serves as park manager. To rent the park’s shelter house, contact Mosier at (937) 360-6192. The fee is $35 for three hours.
Donations to benefit maintenance of and improvements to the park can be sent to: South Charleston Community Club, P.O. Box 256, South Charleston, OH 45368.
