Boys & Girls Club-Marble Falls unit’s newest installment made for the shade
Boys & Girls Club of the Highland Lakes Executive Director Bill Drake (left) joins members of the Kiwanis Club of Marble Falls as they celebrate the installation of a specially designed and configured playscape canopy. The Kiwanis donated the bulk of the $13,500 for the structure, which will provide shade during the hottest and brightest times of the day from mid-March through October. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
EDITOR DANIEL CLIFTON
MARBLE FALLS — As a person drives by the Boys & Girls Club of the Highland Lakes-Marble Falls unit, they might notice that the large, blue playscape cover sits just off-center compared to the assortment of playground equipment below it.
One might think the crew that installed it missed the mark by a few feet.
However, the canopy, courtesy of the Kiwanis Club of Marble Falls, is right on target.
“It’s specially designed so it provides shade for the kids during peak times of the day, when the sun’s the brightest and the temperatures are the hottest,” said Jim Hower, a member of the Kiwanis Club. “It’s pretty incredible. The kids will be able to use (the playground) even when the summer sun is out.”
The Kiwanis Club of Marble Falls funded the bulk of the $13,500 project with a little funding coming from the Lola Wright Foundation.
Bill Drake, the Boys & Girls Club of the Highland Lakes executive director, pointed out that once the late spring and summer sun began heating up the previously unshaded playscape, the kids really couldn’t use it past noon.
“It was just too hot,” he said. “The great thing about this shade is that it’s designed and placed so that the entire playscape will be in shade from Spring Break to Halloween from ten in the morning until four in the afternoon.”
The company took specific coordinates of the playscape, matched those with the sun’s path from March to late October, and developed the canopy and set it up in such a way that it offers shade during the hottest parts of the day.
This will be very important once school is out for summer and the Boys & Girls Club members are spending the entire day at the club.
The Kiwanis Club of Marble Falls provides funds for several community projects, many focused on youth. The club meets noon-1 p.m. Tuesdays at River City Grille, 700 First St. Go to marblefallskiwanis.org for more information.
The Boys & Girls Club of the Highland Lakes provides after-school and summer programs and activities for area youth. The club has units in Marble Falls and Burnet as well as a branch in Kingsland. Go to bgc-hl.com for more information.