By Sarah Newstok
Sometime in the fall last year, Mr. Fletcher caught me at drop off. “Hey Sarah, I have this idea…”
His vision was a substantial trail dotted with plants and art sculptures along the path that followed the Wolf River. It sounded great! I committed to helping with fundraising, but the project itself was way beyond my capabilities. We needed a team to make it happen. I figured this was one of those great ideas that might never actually happen.
A few weeks later, he flagged me down again. When I heard the name Naomi Van Tol, I knew the project was as good as done.
Fletcher, Naomi and I reviewed the original blueprints of the school, checking out the property line and slope to the river. We walked the site. Fletcher and Naomi scratched their heads over the variable water levels while I scratched the fire ants biting my ankles. But at this point, the project had begun.
Brian Martinelli, alongside Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects, generously donated the design for a 175-foot decked boardwalk with a viewing platform that could be used as an outdoor classroom. Joel Johnson at Burr & Cole Consulting Engineers provided an in-kind structural engineering review, and by January 2015, the design for the MMS Wolf River Harbor Boardwalk was complete. Now, we just needed cash and permission to proceed.
In my role at Livable Memphis, I knew there would be opportunities to receive matching funds for civic projects like our MMS Wolf River Harbor Boardwalk using the crowdfunding platform ioby.org – ioby stands for in our back yard…the opposite of the Not In My Back Yard movement.
We started with a small campaign in February 2015 – raising $1,250 to PREBUILD the boardwalk and purchase supplies for 48 concrete footings. Ms. Maria and Mr. Fletcher encouraged excitement among the students with a handmade banner, site photos and by talking it up at home. With a generous match from the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation for “green schools” and a flood of support from MMS families, the PREBUILD campaign was fully funded in only two days!
In the meantime, Vicki Wooten brought the issue before the Harbor Town Homeowners Association for approval in March 2015. Caleb Sweazy and Larry Smith committed to making sure it would be built properly.
In April 2015, we launched another ioby campaign for MATERIALS & FULL BUILD for the remaining $5,735 needed to purchase lumber, screws, bolts and supplies. A match from The Kresge Foundation and the amazing support of MMS families and friends helped us reach the funding goal in only two weeks! Additional donations kept coming, bringing the total budget to $9,500! Our Harbor Town neighbors and MMS businesses, like Miss Cordelia’s, inbalance FITNESS, Café Eclectic, Utopia Animal Hospital and Henry Turley Company, all showed their support with sponsorships to the boardwalk. Lowe’s generously provided all lumber and other materials at cost with free delivery.
In late spring, Naomi, Larry and Caleb led a crew to break the soggy ground on Saturdays and Sundays in May. Progress digging holes for the concrete footing was slow, stinky and slippery. A steady flow of water seeps from the duck pond to the slope, keeping it muddy. The ground is also filled with giant blocks of rip-rap – big, heavy boulders set in place during construction of Harbor Town to keep the riverbank in place. (They line the Mississippi River, too – try picking one up sometime!)
The interminable team of Naomi, Larry and Caleb persisted, prying rip-rap and their boots from the mud post-hole by post-hole.
Numerous volunteers came out to help over the course of the spring and summer to help carry lumber and sacks of concrete, dig holes in the mud, and set the concrete footings. Slowly, supports, decking and railings have filled in the spaces between the footings. The boardwalk is almost complete! But we still welcome you to come out any Sunday morning to lend a hand until it is completed.
Special thanks to everyone who has come out already on workdays: Mindy Turley, Connie Binkowitz, Chris Cosby, Joe Murphy, Jim Crook, Vickie Clark, Michael Belue, Tucker Shaw, Scott Newstok, Maria Schuermann Cole, Joe Clark, Josh Phillips, Alex Turley, Jamie Harmon, Shannon Dixon, Greta Hauberg, Mark Loft and Cindi Sinclair.
And super thank-you to the many kids who patiently hung out while their parents worked: Rosa Van Tol, Harlow Sweazy, Abel Murphy, Harlan Murphy, Poppy Belue, Penelope Cosby, Gus Phillips, Evie Turley, Owen Turley, Jay Clark and Xander Sinclair.
Stay tuned for details on putting the finishing touches on the MMS Wolf River Harbor Boardwalk at the opening celebration soon!