New playground at Greysbranch

Aaron Snyder, The Daily Independent, Ashland, Ky.
·2 min read

Oct. 11—LLOYD — Students constantly peppered a local elementary school principal with the same question every day since Aug. 30: When is the new playground coming?

Once Greysbranch Elementary's Misty Tackett informed them of the answer, they had the date circled.

Kendall Harris, a fifth-grader, and Thomas Cummings, a fourth-grader, cut the ribbon for the brand new playground on Monday, which happened to draw perfect attendance at Greysbranch.

Oct. 9 was Kendall and Thomas' birthday, so they had the honors of grabbing the scissors for the long-awaited occasion.

"They are beyond excited," said Tackett of her students. "We put up balloons and brought all the kids out."

CSX donated $70,000 for the playground equipment and a basketball court. The basketball portion isn't finished yet.

On Saturday, CSX workers, their families and volunteers spread mulch and put the finishing touches on the playground.

"It was such perfect timing," said Tackett, a seventh-year principal.

Over the summer, the old playground was demolished because of the construction of the Musketeer Alumni Complex.

"The goal was to have the new one in place by the time the kids came back, but there were a few delays," Tackett said. "They've been very creative, coming up with games of tag and playing with sidewalk chalk.

"They asked me about it every day, many, many times a day," she said with a laugh.

Inclusive playground equipment is coming, too, thanks to Greenup County's special education department.

Excitement levels have remained high all week, Tackett said.

CSX said it is "incredibly proud to partner with Greysbranch Elementary School on this important playground project that will benefit the students for years to come."

Lawerance Craft, of CSX, said the following: "Our One CSX culture is a collaborative effort of all employees working together to operate a better railroad. It makes me proud to see a wide range of CSX employees from the surrounding area who have and don't have children that attend this school apply our One CSX culture to benefit a community that we have a footprint in."