NFL, United Way, others fix up Lynn playground

LYNN – Gillette Stadium may have cleared immediately after the Patriots’ victory over the Chiefs, but games courtesy of Monday Night Football will continue at Kiley Park, as local volunteers with the United Way, GMC, the National Football League and the East Lynn Community Association gathered to build playground equipment.”It was previously a broken piece of equipment that was useless and ugly, it made the park look desolate,” said East Lynn Community Association President Mary Trahan. “We’re very excited to have (the new equipment) and even more excited to have the community here helping. It warms my heart.”The playground improvements resulted from the partnership among the GMC-sponsored Monday Night Football Tour, the United Way, GameTime playground equipment manufacturers and local neighborhood groups.Each week of the football season, the partners all collaborate on a playground build in a community in the media market of the Monday Night Football home team. With the Patriots defeating the Chiefs Monday, the groups chose Kiley Park to build a new play set with monkey bars, a slide and swings.Although Patriots safety Patrick Chung was unable to attend as planned, plenty of other important guests were available to lend a hand pouring cement, spreading mulch and tightening bolts.”With obesity rates going through the roof, this equipment is to get kids active, out of the house, off the couch and back into the playgrounds,” said Jeffery Hayward, chief of External Affairs at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, who recounted his childhood playing at Lynn playgrounds along with Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr.”I grew up on Clark Street and we used the park every single day of the year whether playing on equipment or playing baseball, basketball or football,” Cyr recalled, sporting a Bill Belichick-inspired hooded sweatshirt with cut off sleeves. “If you have equipment, kids will come? Here’s a great opportunity to get kids to come out and be active.”School Committee member Rick Starbard – who was the muddiest town official at the event – agreed. He said kids needed more activity as traditional school-time opportunities for physical education and recess faced increased competition.”There’s not enough play-time in school and kids need that,” he said. “Everything is time-on-task. But trying to turn kids into test-taking machines doesn’t necessarily turn them into the best adults in my opinion.”Lynn Shore Little League President Dave Dorgan said that the equipment will help his program by providing entertainment for the siblings of youth ballplayers.”Will it make them play ball? In a way yes, because they stay in the park,” Dorgan said. Although he acknowledged it could provide too much of a distraction for the youngest players in the T-ball program. “Administrative perspective, if I can’t get the kids off the equipment, it could be a problem.”But kids may not be the only ones attracted to the equipment.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy thanked the collaborators for selecting the city as a site for the playground because it provided a place where kids could go and have “time to be kids.” Or maybe for mayors to be mayors. “Given my recent exploits,” Kennedy joked, referring to a viral video showing her mixing it up in the wrestling ring, “I think I’ll have to be the first one on the equipment.”Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].