Plains Senior Center crafts dream playhouse

PLAINS – The Plains Senior Center is hard at work building a 2-story dream playhouse, which includes swings, a slide, a basketball hoop and a climbing wall.

Wednesday, March 6 was the first day of the project and Pat Harbin supervised both Bill Beck and Dick Colver, who stayed busy measuring and cutting wood for the project.

This is the third playhouse the Senior Center will raffle off at the Sanders County Fair.

In previous years, the Senior Center raised up to $5,000, greatly adding to their budget.

“We’re spending a lot of money on our facility. When we use it up that money needs to be replaced,” said Harbin explaining his favorite part of the project is helping raise funds and give back to the Senior Center.

As wood chips flew and saws buzzed, Beck and Colver meticulously measured the pieces of wood needed to construct the frame of the playhouse.

The playhouse will be constructed out of Cedar wood, a wood that Beck explained to be very nice wood for the project because it does not rot.

As they worked, Beck reminisced about building a playhouse that was won by former Plainsman editor, Don Coe.

Coe was a good friend of Beck’s and although he was ill and in the nursing home, he managed to win the playhouse for his great granddaughter in Nampa, Idaho.

After getting permission for Coe to leave the nursing home to make the long haul to deliver the playhouse, Coe’s eyes lit up with joy.

They packed the playhouse onto a trailer and began their trek down to Nampa.

“His great granddaughter was ecstatic,” said Beck recalling how he was happy to have helped bring so much joy to both Coe and his great granddaughter.

Harbin explained that the playhouse is built 100 percent by senior activity.

The Senior Center will be hard at work every Wednesday up until June when the playhouse is expected to be finished.