Our History from the Beginning
Forest Knolls Playground by Amy Valens 1972 downtown Forest Knolls looked quite different from today. Crossing over the bridge from Sir Francis Drake, to your right was our tiny post office. In front of you was a vacant lot littered with garbage, with a weathered sign say- ing, “future home of the Forest Knolls Playground.” It was a frustrating sign. The lot belonged to the now defunct San Geronimo Valley Association, but there was no play- ground being built. That was about to change. The owner of another piece of vacant land across from the old train stop wanted to condemn Castro Street so he could have a larger lot. Richard Gray invited people to his house to discuss a response to that proposal, and in the process opened the door to talking about the need for a playground. The people most involved initially were Richard, Sanda Logan, Ron Thelin, Alan Odie, and Amy Valens. Richard joined the Valley Association, became its vice chair, and convinced them to sell the land to the County for development as a park. Over the course of two years, we got County funding to buy the land and build the structures, court, irrigation, plantings, etc. They would assume liability, but it was up to us to get it built and maintain it. Richard drew up the design for the general layout, and the next level of volunteer effort began.
Ghilotti Brothers installed the basketball court for little more than the cost of materials. We worked with Lissa Englert to design the plantings. We hired Kurt Ware, an architect who specialized in working with communities, to design and build their own play structures, and rustled up folks for work weekends. It took many such weekends. Over time 100 people, including many young folks, came to dig, plant, saw, hammer or provide food! David Parle brought over his cherry picker so we could install the spiral slide the village kids had requested. Chris Gale climbed a huge oak tree to put up a hefty rope swing. The playground was com- pleted in 1976. And then, once a week for years, we made sure a volunteer cleaned and watered. The original play structures lasted 17 years. In 1993 another group of hardworking volunteers guided by LynnEl Powell, Vicki Bloom, and Fred Mundy worked with Steve Kinsey to finance and install new play structures that met updated safety and accessibility standards (a sad goodbye to the spiral slide). Richard Sloan poured the wheelchair ramp. The County took over maintenance responsibility shortly after that. Most recently, with help from the Valley Planning Group, more shade trees, new tables and bench- es, and a toilet have been added. Come enjoy this Valley success story! Playground workday with Steve Kinsey at center, 1978 (Photo by Tom Valens)
(Photo by Tom Valens)
Forest Knolls looking east, Sir Francis Drake Blvd. to the left and Morelos Ave. up the center right of the photo. (From the Collection of Newall Snyder)
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50 th Anniversary
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