MIDDLEBURY — This past Wednesday, a series of upgrade and maintenance projects were accomplished at the Middlebury Recreation Park, with a helping hand from 40 Middlebury College football players.
According to Middlebury Parks and Recreation Department Director Terri Arnold, the 40 players were on hand for a couple hours and completed many tasks that had been prepped by town employees Yvon Pouliot and Dustin Hunt.
In an email, Arnold said it was “definitely a tight timeline for a project of that scope, but we pulled it off … We could not have done it without all that football energy, the guys were ready to go and did an outstanding job.”
Work included:
•  Installing two barbecue grills near the Tot Lot playground and tennis courts.
•  Moving tables from the pool and tennis court area out into the park and emptying trash cans.
•  Performing a major upgrade to the Little League field, including using a tractor loaned by Champlain Valley Equipment.
•  Filling potholes in the soccer fields.
•  Repairing fencing with new wire, rails and caps and by placing dirt around exposed concrete.
•  Raking the Tot Lot, leveling all of its low spots, and removing a broken toy.
•  Removing a deteriorated “Big Blue Backstop” to allow town workers to build a new one.
Arnold said she and a team’s coach “talked about doing a project annually with the football players, which I think is a great idea.”