MORGANTOWN — You probably wouldn’t bat an eye at hearing a Monongalia County Commissioner banging the drum for the county park system.
You might bat an eye, however, at a county commissioner literally banging a drum in one of the county’s parks.
Both were on offer Thursday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Mason-Dixon Historical Park’s new playground.
Some 175 students from Mason-Dixon and North elementary schools were on hand to help break in the new equipment, which was provided and installed by New York-based Bears Playgrounds for $62,000.
Monongalia County Parks Director J.R. Petsko said $162,000 worth of new playground equipment is now in place at Mason-Dixon and Chestnut Ridge parks.
“This was really two years’ worth of planning to get here,” he said. “It’s 100% funded by the levy. Without that parks and trails levy, we wouldn’t have any of this.”
The brief ceremony included Delegate Joe Statler, R-Mononglaia, and all three Monongalia County commissioners.
And while the massive wooden playground was decidedly the star of Thursday’s show, Commission President Tom Bloom’s bass drum provided a solid opening act.
Bloom, a mainstay of the WVU Alumni Band, drew a crowd of pint-sized percussionists when he lugged the instrument onto the field of play.
“This is what it’s all about, kids being kids,” Bloom said, turning to the crowd. “Now who wants to hit a bass drum?”
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