Cooks Corner site’s playground geared to special needs children

On a cold, windy Saturday, Dec. 21, all five members of the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors attended the “grand opening/ribbon cutting” of the Middlesex County Buddy Park playground at Cooks Corner.

The new $311,000 site is a state of the art playground that compliments the Middlesex County area, which includes a “gone fishing” shack with slides, crab climber, swings and educational panels. The playground also includes an outside basketball/pickleball court and skateboard park.

At the ceremony, Middlesex County Assistant Administrator AnnMarie Ricardi thanked the supervisors who encouraged and funded a portion of the playground cost. She thanked the Middlesex County Kiwanis Club and Greg Chambers, who wrote the grant to the River Counties Community Foundation (RCCF) in the amount of $50,000 to help with the financing of the playground. She also thanked RCCF for providing the funding.

She also thanked the late Christine Thelma Taylor who provided $69,347 and encouraged the county to use the money for a park in honor of her late son, “Buddy” Horace Taylor Jr., with the request that the playground be inclusive for special needs users. The county also used $55,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds — federal monies received during the 2021 COVID-19 pandemic.

Supervisors Chairman Don Harris said while at the ceremony cooking free hotdogs for the crowd that a safe place for children to play is essential to a community and that Buddy Park is going to be a real asset for parents, grandparents and children.