Nahant honors parks advocate as Citizen of the Year

NAHANT – Erin DiGrande didn’t attend Town Meeting when town officials announced she had been named the winner of the Nahant Citizen of the Year.But the woman responsible for rehabilitating Nahant’s playgrounds through the Swing With Me Association was at an appropriate place: the park.”The citizens who have young children have come alive and do a lot of great things,” said Town Moderator Dave Conlin, who nominated DiGrande for the Calantha Sears Citizen of the Year Award. “She was the leader of the group and I think it was well-deserved.”DiGrande began her nonprofit association a decade ago when her first child was 2 and she and her friends found themselves driving to Marblehead and Swampscott to visit playgrounds with their children.”We were driving over to other towns and thought this doesn’t make any sense,” said Tiffany Connelly.She worked with DiGrande to build playgrounds at the Town Library, Flash Road, Little Nahant and two playgrounds at the Johnson School.”When more people are involved, they take ownership,” said DiGrande, who still visits the playground on Flash Road almost every day after school with her third child, who is 7.”It was a group effort,” DiGrande emphasized. “Now we are all very good friends.”DiGrande first assembled a group of community members and a representative from a playground equipment manufacturer to plan a new facility at the library with “bright-colored equipment ? lots of climbing structures, swings and in a space that was safe,” she said.The playground was dedicated June 1, 2002.The group then moved on to the next project.Connelly praised DiGrande for assigning each individual donor to a specific piece of playground equipment or project to ensure accountability.”She’s very good at organizing, keeps everybody on track. You have to have a leader. By the second time, there were people just dropping off checks,” Connelly said.Meanwhile, Department of Public Works employees volunteered their time and equipment to help with construction and various committees donated – and continue to donate – resources to maintain the equipment.Connelly said that the projects also promoted a sense of community among young parents in Nahant.”There were quite a few people who had moved into town and it was a good way for us to meet people,” said Connelly. “It was very rewarding, there was a real sense of accomplishment when it was over.”