voigt park — a treasure for generations
By Gretchen Spencer | September 2020
I’ve been enjoying Voigt Park this summer — but not because of our usual 4th of July picnic, which sadly had to be cancelled. I’ve been seeing the park in a new, quieter way, through the eyes of my young grandson. He delights in exploring the climbing structure and the slide, swinging on the swings, and throwing rocks in the stream under the shade of the old, craggy maple tree that dominates the park. There are often other families and children there too, laughing and playing, as well as wonderful new things like the classical music concerts from our neighborhood musicians. And, believe it or not, I’ve even encountered fly fishermen, who told me there were young rainbow trout in the deep part of the creek! In this time of quarantine, Voigt Park is bursting with life.
“We have many parks to enjoy, but only one where we gather together to play and to picnic, to celebrate holidays together and to raise our children”
It feels like a kind of renaissance. Back in the early 1980’s, I was one of the young mothers who worked with the Civic Association to plan and purchase the five-piece wooden play structure in the park (partly paid for by selling t-shirts!), and my daughter spent many happy hours playing there as she grew up. But over the past decade, torrential rains and flooding did terrible damage both to the structure and the park itself. Sections of the parking pad washed out, rocks and gravel were deposited well into the park itself, and the play structure rotted and became unsafe.
But after each event, Hollin Hills volunteers came to the rescue. Voigt Park warden Peter Martz, Park Committee Chair Elisabeth Lardner, Robert Fina and his crew, and dozens of other volunteers gathered to rake and remove the rock, replace the parking pad, and clean up the park. Recently, Elisabeth and Robert (with a donation from Friends of Hollin Hills) installed a rubber grid mat over sod near the entrance to the park to prevent erosion, and the sod is thriving. Robert and his crew also replaced several sections of the play structure that had rotted, with generous funding from the Civic Association. Now, children can play there again.
So as I watch my daughter playing in Voigt Park with her son, just as I played there with her so many years ago, I find myself deeply grateful — not only for the community’s investment in the play structure, but also for the volunteers who contributed countless hours of very hard work keeping the park alive. We have many parks to enjoy, but only one where we gather together to play and to picnic, to celebrate holidays together and to raise our children. Voigt is a Hollin Hills treasure, and has been for generations.
Thanks to all those who have given so much, and worked so hard, to keep it alive for the next generation!
