by Ellen Shuster

Rain threatened but stayed away for the Oct. 9 dedication of the new pickle ball court, basketball court, and ice rink at the Cook Community Center. About 40 people gathered around the basketball hoop at 6 p.m. as the Friends of the Parks celebrated the completion of a project begun years ago.

The informal ceremony began with a poem read by Friends of the Parks member Carrolle Wood titled “Why be a Volunteer?” She was applauded as she read the last line, “Helping others far and near, that makes you be a volunteer.”

Next, member Jeannie Taylor spoke about the project history. After the idea had been proposed, fundraising had begun in December of 2023. A plaque on site showed the $1,000 donors, though some donors had been anonymous. Taylor also took time to thank those who had donated any amount. The $10 and $50 donations added up to help the project succeed. She mentioned the many fund raisers and raffles that took place and thanked the other Friends of the Parks members Carrolle Wood, Diane Brunner, Tammy Palmer, Val Annen and Ivette Reing for their work in those events. At every even, Taylor said they had felt that the community was behind them.

In May, the construction started and though there were some discouraging delays, once again the donated time and effort got them through each hurdle.

“All we ask is that you use it, enjoy it, and take care of it,” Taylor ended as she passed the ceremony on to Mayor Daniel Manick.

Mayor Manick thanked the Friends of the Parks for all of their work and spoke about how excited he was to see something new and beautiful come to Cook. “Now we have nice things,” Manick said. “Don’t be annoyed if we ask you to keep it nice.” He implored every resident of Cook to help care for the new facilities and to take responsibility for them so that in future people would continue to be motivated to bring improvements to town. He ended by asking the volunteers to enjoy a restful winter knowing that their hard work had paid off, after which everyone moved into the building to enjoy cake and ice cream.