Community unites to build new playground in Holdingford, Minn.

HOLDINGFORD, Minn. (KMSP) - Holdingford, Minnesota, is a town of only about 800. But, when the call for help went out, residents were all in.

A massive project, called “Dreamcatcher II,” is underway that will benefit generations of children in town along with anyone else who wants to climb, run, swing and jump.

“You never really know. You just decide you're going to build this, and then you cross your fingers that people are going to show up,” said Chris Swenson, Holdingford Schools superintendent.

Since Monday, volunteers have been at it – drilling, hammering, shoveling, sawing - putting together all kinds of awesome.

“It feels really cool to help… to see all these people here and help everyone and help the little kids play on the playground and be part of something big,” said volunteer Paige Pauldine.

“It's just a good community activity, and I wanted to have my stamp on this one that's going up because my daughter is going to be a sixth grader here,” added volunteer Lisa Doucet.

But Dreamcatcher II has actually been in the works for two years, with kids helping plan and design some of the parts.

“We had some crazy ideas,” Swenson said. “We weren't gonna put a hot tub in here, but we tried to meet some of their goals.”

There's even something special for the hearing-impaired.

“We use plastic slides, but plastic generates static electricity,” said builder Dave Johnson with Leathers & Associates. “For a kid with a cochlear implant or a hearing impairment, the static electricity really vibrates inside their head… so we made a special slide with a stainless steel bed.”

The playground was built in 1997.

“It's a field of dreams quote, ya know – ‘Build it and they'll come,’” said Swensen. “Well, if they come, we'll build it. It's that type of thing.”

The crew needs as much help as it can get in order to get this playground done by their Saturday deadline.