OLDS — A revamped old Kiwanis playground in a residential area southwest of the Olds Regional Exhibition grounds has a new name.
The playground, now officially called the Kiwanis Jean Statham Playground, was officially opened the evening of Aug. 16. It’s located along an alley off 56th Street.
According to community services director Doug Wagstaff, the project cost $85,376 with the Kiwanis Club of Olds contributing $27,600.
The project included removal of the old wooden playground structure, construction and installation of a new one, the addition of two memorial legacy benches and some drainage that will help reduce the retention of water in both the park and playground surface.
Statham was born in Three Hills and arrived in Olds at age 13 with her family. She spent about 30 years working in local banks.
However, Statham was best known for welcoming people to the town as the Hi Neighbour Welcome hostess for about 35 years.
During that time, Statham welcomed more than 5,000 newcomers town, offering them gift baskets and donations collected from local businesses as well as information about Olds and its services.
“She welcomed us to Olds here in 1984 and she was a go-getter,” Town of Olds Mayor Judy Dahl said in her address to the crowd on hand for the opening.
She also coordinated the Newcomer Ladies Coffee Club which welcomed women who were new to the community, helping them make friendships and share their experiences.
Statham passed away in 2017 at age 84.
Dahl told the crowd that the effort to rebuild the playground began in the winter of 2020 when members of the Kiwanis Club of Olds were contacted by local residents hoping to see the Kiwanis Park as it was then known, refurbished.
The Kiwanis Club agreed to help fundraise for the project and asked the town to help make that happen as well.
"On behalf of the Town of Olds council, we applaud the collaboration and the remodelling of this park and the renaming from Kiwanis to the Jean Statham Playground," Dahl said.
In addition to Dahl, other town councillors present for the ceremony were Wanda Blatz, Darren Wilson, James Cummings and Heather Ryan.
Jean’s son Lyle addressed the crowd.
“Thank you to the Kiwanis group and the town council very much for honouring mom with this park,” he said.
He recalled the many years his mother organized the welcoming baskets to present to newcomers.
“My sister and I – I did most of the work – slaved in the basement,” he said sparking laughter, “making her coupon books so that she could take them and give them out each year to each family that came to town or newlyweds and help them with information and know the place.”
Lyle said when he met with Kiwanis reps about the idea of redoing the playground and naming it after his mother, “half the Kiwanis people had been welcomed by my mom or were fosters of her booklets that she carried.
“And they took it to town council and half the town council had been welcomed here by her as well. So after 30 years, she met a lot of people.”
Incoming Kiwanis Club of Olds president Annelise M. Doolaege addressed the crowd.
Doolaege thanked the Stathams for their involvement in the project.
She started by thanking the families present, looking at a swarm of kids gathered in front of her.
“Look at all of you,” she said. “This is fabulous to all be here, because that’s what a playground’s supposed to do, right?”
"The playground brings families together – be it people from town, people from the county – everyone comes into the playground,” Doolaege added.
She said the club’s next fundraising project is a warming shack for the outdoor skating rink erected at Centennial Park last year.
