By Natalie M. Zeigler
City Manager
In recent years, the City of Hartsville has done much to support the needs of our community’s children. Last spring provided a dramatic example, when we partnered with very driven parents and grants received from the Byerly Foundation to build Garrison’s Place: A Handicapable Playground. It attracted a lot of attention as the first playground in the region to place such a strong focus on adaptive play equipment for children of different ability levels. We aren’t finished yet, as some similar adaptive equipment is to be installed at the new Lawton Park playground coming in June, and adaptive equipment is also planned for Pride Park.
We’ve helped focus on child education as well. Also last spring, the United Way of Hartsville, Darlington County First Steps and Duke Energy came together with our Parks and Leisure Services to establish the Born Learning Trail, a place for children to enjoy learning opportunities during their trips to Byerly Park. We in the City also served as part of the team which provided a major renovation to Hartsville’s Boys & Girls Club, covering everything from new homework stations and wifi access to improved recreation opportunities.
For everything which we and every other community partner does, however, we have to recognize that the needs of children in any community are great. Last year, 15,384 cases of child abuse and neglect were documented around the state of South Carolina. As horrifying as this issue is, many of us can recall times when this issue has happened close to us. Because of this ongoing need, communities, including the City of Hartsville, mark April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Next Tuesday, April 21 at 3:30 p.m., in observance of Child Abuse Prevention Month, the City will host a ceremony in Pride Park to plant our first-ever “Pinwheel Garden,” a display of pinwheels intended to symbolize happiness which every child ought to have a chance to experience in a safe home. The Hartsville Boys & Girls Club, always a valuable community partner, will be joining us to help create the display, and the event is also open to anyone else interested in attending. We will have some short presentations, including representatives of the Children’s Trust of South Carolina, and we will have refreshments as well.
The Hartsville community is blessed with many people willing to come together and build a stronger hometown for our children. In addition to all the examples already given here, we’ve got everything from our local Department of Social Services office to all the services provided by our local schools, including the well-known PULSE Program focusing on scholastic excellence. Still, the needs of the community’s children are always worth a greater focus. The Pinwheel Garden’s purpose is to keep the discussion of what we have done, and what we still need to do, alive. I hope more child-focused partnerships still will come out of it.
Natalie Zeigler is the City Manager of Hartsville. For more information, call City Hall at 843-383-3015 or email info2@hartsvillesc.gov.