By TONY GUERRERO
Hays Post
Discover the magic behind Festival of Trees, an auction paving the way for more improvements at the ARC Park in Hays.
Festival of Trees is ARC Park's biggest fundraiser of the year with all proceeds going to the park's next phase in adding more features and equipment to the park.
Executive Director of the Arc of Central Plains Kathy McAdoo, highlights the objective of having a safe and boundless park in the Hays community.
"Inclusivity is very important, and the ARC Park itself promotes inclusivity and side-by-side play, not just for children but for adults,” she said. “It lets grandparents that may have a mobility challenge and may use a walker go to the park with their grandchildren and watch or play with them.”
The third phase in bringing more accessible recreation to the park includes corn hole lanes with shaded dugouts, a quonset play structure and two tennis courts.
The ARC Park, 3300 Hillcrest Drive, is comprised of multi-generational equipment, sensory elements, swings and a splash pad offering various water components.
McAdoo emphasizes the importance of having a highly accessible playground in the neighborhood.
“Anyone of us can become disabled at any time. You’re one trip, fall or car accident away from becoming wheelchair-bound,” McAdoo said.
There are an estimated 1,400 children and adults with disabilities in the area, according to the Hays ARC Park website.
Executive Director of the Heartland Community Foundation Sarah Meitner, said the Arc Thrift Store receives an overflow of contributions related to the holiday season, which led to the idea behind the Festival of Trees.
“We had all of these wonderful donated items come into the thrift store. There were so many Christmas items that were in really good shape, sometimes in the original boxes that were never used,” Meitner said. “We felt like we could repurpose beautifully decorated trees and other items to have an auction.”
The auction shifted to an online format due to the COVID pandemic and has remained that way ever since, allowing people from any location to place bids.
Items featured, crafted by local volunteers, include Christmas trees, wreaths, tabletop decorations and porch displays.
Meitner hopes the bidding will contribute to furthering the mission of improving the ARC Park to be more inclusive to the community.
“Everybody deserves to play regardless of age and ability. Everybody has a very innate feeling to be able to have a space where you can come and play like anybody else,” she said.
Meitner emphasizes that the photos do not fully capture the charm of festive items and urges people to view them in person.
The construction for the current park was about $2.1 million and the next phase is expected to be less than $1 million. The opening date for phase three is expected to be in 2024.
The new additions to the park will be situated on the left side of the splash pad.
The Festival of Trees can be viewed at the Arc of Central Plans, 600 Main St. Bidding is open now online and ends at 5 p.m. Monday.
You can place your bids on the auction website.
Visit the Arc Thrift Store during its operating hours to see the trees and other items on display.
You can also follow the ARC Park on Facebook.