GENTRY — Though delayed by rain on the previous week, Gentry High School FFA students were busy at the horseshoe pits in the Gentry City Park on Thursday as a part of a community service project.
Boards around the pits were repainted, the sand in the pits leveled and two horseshoe courts were removed to make room for corn hole (or bean-bag) toss, a new game in the park which is expected to draw some new users who may not be skilled at tossing the heavier horseshoes.
As a result, students dug down and removed the stakes from two of the six horseshoe courts and replaced them with goals for corn hole toss which the students cut out and constructed on site.
Kevin Johnston, Gentry's mayor, said he was contacted by Wendy Jackson and Jeremy Mabry, the two new agriculture teachers in the school district, about the possibility of working on projects within the community.
"Ms. Jackson and Mr. Mabry expressed interest in being more involved within the community, especially through their FFA students," Johnston said. "The group offered to take on the horseshoe pits at the park as one of those projects. As we talked through it, we decided to expand on the opportunity and replace some of the existing horseshoe pits with 'bean bag' toss boards. While this game has been around for quite some time, we felt it might be a great opportunity to add another feature within our park," Johnston explained.
According to Mayor Johnston, students from area schools have been involved in many projects and activities in and around the city's parks.
"We welcome and encourage any opportunity to build and strengthen the relationships that make partnerships such as this possible," Johnston said.
General News on 03/01/2017