J.W. Wells State Park in the Upper Peninsula will be holding an official groundbreaking ceremony for its new universally accessible playground at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27.

In 2005, a few campers at Wells State Park noticed the lack of play equipment and decided to do something about it. A group of 12 park visitors met with the park manager and discussed raising funds for new play equipment. For their first fund-raiser, the group, who calls themselves "WSP-3," sold crocheted hats at the camp host site for $3. One member built birdhouse kits from donated scrap lumber for sale at the park and everywhere else in the town of Cedar River. The group held a spaghetti dinner, wrote and sold a cookbook, "Cooking up a Playground," and sold penny bubble gum, ice cream and glow sticks.

One member of the group, Barbara Varney, applied for a number of grants and successfully raised $4,200 from the M&M Foundation, the Chet Kons Foundation (through the Marinette Lions Club), the Community Foundation of the Upper Peninsula and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

The WSP-3 group includes Jerry, and the late Elaine Hoduski, who passed away in September 2007; Richard and Barbara Varney; Lee and Lisa Lemke; Shawn and Lisa Fernstrum; Steve and Chris Burline; Bill and Marilyn Hardina; Carl and Peggy Granquist; and Mark and Debbie Mileski.

The WSP-3 group raised a total of $45,000 toward this effort. All of the proceeds from their hard work, the generosity of visitors to Wells State Park, and the support of the Cedar River community, will be handed over to Wells State Park on Sept. 27 at the groundbreaking ceremony, said Ron Olson, chief of the Department of Natural Resources' Parks and Recreation Division.

In addition to the funds raised and donated by the WSP-3 group, this Access to Recreation project is one of several projects throughout Michigan's state parks and recreation areas that are being funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, leveraged project dollars with the DNR Recreation and Trails program, and a grant source derived from Federal Highway Transportation funding.

The focus of the Access to Recreation project was a universally accessible playground that incorporates a natural resources theme. The playground will be built in the modern campground, which has had significant infrastructure improvements over the last few years.

Along with the construction of the playground, an accessible trail will connect day use visitors to the playground and other existing amenities. A new observation platform will be placed adjacent to the trail, and the swimming beach will be greatly enhanced to allow users of all abilities to access Green Bay and Lake Michigan.

Wells State Park is located at N7670 Highway M-35 near Cedar River in Menominee County. The park has 150 campsites in the modern campground with accessible restroom facilities. Camping reservations can be made on-line at www.midnrreservations.com, or by calling 800-447-2757.

For more information about this event or the project, the park, accessibility at this park, or persons with disabilities needing accommodations to attend this event, should contact Hector Valdez, the park supervisor, at 906-863-9747 (or TTY/TDD711 Michigan Relay Center for the hearing impaired) at least seven days prior to the event, or view information about these details at www.michigan.gov/wells.