An aerial view of the SNAP playground after the project was completed recently. | Special to the Enquirer

Charley Gaines

Hartselle Enquirer

“It’s all about pride in the community and them helping through involvement.” Frank Miller, Hartselle’s Park and Rec director, said it with a grin of admiration and satisfaction as he spoke about the newest jewel in Hartselle’s crown.

After more than nine years of planning, building and evolving, SNAP continues welcoming the masses ready to get out of the hot, summer sun for some fun in the water.

The John Mark Stallings Special Needs Accessible Playground (SNAP) held its grand opening May 6. It’s been less than a month, but Miller said it’s off to a good start with a more than 3,500 people estimated to have visited the park this year alone.

“The one thing that’s nice is that you have so many people that come together for a project like this,” added Miller to his statement about pride and involvement on SNAP. “It’s not just folks that have handicapped kids. It’s every kind of business and every kind of individual helping.”

Everything from the physical labor to materials to the money the park required to make it a reality was donated – right at $1 million. Miller said employees from GE, Walmart, Lowe’s and other companies came to donate their time and efforts. He said local companies helped with the landscaping, the roofing, setting the concrete and everything else that makes the park what it is today.

Miller said the county contributed a chunk of time and money to SNAP within the last year as the project finished its third and final phase.

“Anything you could dream of that we could ask for help with, they did it,” said Miller. “It was just incredible to see the manpower within the last year or so doubling, tripling to get this done.”

Miller said projects like this usually fizzle out after about one or two years because people either get tired of hearing about ongoing projects or they forget about them, but not this park.

SNAP’s website states, “The goal of the boundless playground is to provide a place for children with special needs in Morgan County and the surrounding region to have a place to play. The playground is safe and 100 percent handicapped accessible right here in our community.”

Miller confirmed they’ve met their goal and presented a recreational place that not only handicapped children can enjoy, but he said all types of people from all over North Alabama come to have a blast in the new park with its five different features. Miller said he’s heard of people coming from Decatur, Moulton and other cities and towns miles away. The Parks and Rec director explained it depends each day as to what kind of mixed bag you get with the people that walk under the SNAP entryway sign.

Although he knows a great deal about the park, Miller will automatically redirect anyone wanting to know more about SNAP to the man who oversaw it all and who worked non-stop to see the United Clubs of Hartselle’s goals were met and the park was built correctly.

Bob Francis acted as head of the project since the beginning. The retired engineer was in the Civitan’s Club at the time the idea was presented. The club was one of the moving parts within the United Clubs of Hartselle cooperating to make SNAP a reality as it came to fruition in 2006. He says although he’s not physically involved since the playground’s final phase was opened to the public, he can’t quite leave it completely out of his mind.

“I haven’t left it, but I’ve turned it loose,” Francis acknowledged as he laid out the process of SNAP plainly and clearly as if every detail is burnt in his mind.

“We learned along the way that the interaction between special needs children and typical children is probably one of the most important aspects of the playground,” Francis said. “It improves the social well-being for each. Ultimately the environment molds a social relationship that improves social relationships and social well-being. It not only provides an environment of play, it has therapeutic advantages.”

Francis said one of the more important aspects of SNAP is that it’s a free-for-use facility. He said he would “return from the grave” if Hartselle ever changed that.

“Our major objective in the beginning was to create the premiere special needs playground in the state,” Francis said. “I think we achieved that.” The project head also laid out two parallel goals the team had throughout the project – to serve the special needs children in Morgan County  (approximately 2,500 children) in the best way possible, and to influence other communities within the state and elsewhere to recognize and service children with special mental and physical needs.

“I feel as though our outreach achieved each of these goals,” Francis said with humble satisfaction on his face.

“It’s been a remarkable extension of support,” the 81-year-old said gratefully. He said his motto throughout the project, and in life generally is, “Strive for perfection to achieve greatness.” He said perfection is impossible, but reaching for it results in great things. Francis and Miller agree the community help, the extensive planning and preparation and the willing support given by individuals drove the project and made it the success it is today.

SNAP started with a 50-cent donation from a young girl from Edmond, Okla., and grew into a million-dollar palace rooted in Hartselle.

Francis said the grand opening was a success, but the project as a whole is, in a world full of hurt and suffering – good.