Central Ohio Technical College banner ad

MAD pulls together Himebaugh patrons to discuss state of park

| July 31, 2014

COSHOCTON – Himebaugh Park was created as a place for people of all ages to enjoy, but unfortunately the community is not taking care of it.

Karen Casey from MAD (Make a Difference) is concerned about the state of the park, especially the trash that is being left around the park, the graffiti on the picnic tables and the drugs that were found there. On July 30 she brought pizza and pop to the park and encouraged those who enjoy the park to come share their thoughts and feelings on how they can work together to make a difference.

“I’m very concerned about the park because it’s a disaster most days,” Casey said. “The city built this for everyone to enjoy, but people are trashing it. We need to keep it clean and have no violence here.”

The teens and young adults who attended Casey’s meeting came up with the ideas of having extra trash bags in the bottom of the trash cans so anyone can change the bags, having ashtrays put up and painting the picnic tables black to make it harder for them to be written on.

“We can’t control other people’s actions, but we can control how we react to them,” she said.

MAD will adopt the park for the month of August and do its part to keep it extra clean and a group of 11 people who regularly hangout there stepped up to take care of it for the month of September.

One of those 11 people is Josh Kincer.

“I just moved back down to Coshocton and I come here almost every day,” he said. “I don’t like what happens here. We all need to try to keep it clean.”

Kincer is 26 and was one of the first to step up to Casey’s challenge. Sixteen-year-old Zac Wolfe also was outspoken about keeping the park tidy.

“I’m here all day every day,” he said. “I try to clean up, but it gets old picking up other people’s trash. I tell people to pick stuff up, but they just don’t listen. I think the only reason we aren’t getting a skate park here is because people are tearing up and not taking care of what’s already here.”

Mayor Steve Mercer and City Service Director Jerry Stenner however were there to listen and express their own concerns.

“We created this as a place for people to come to, but the trash has got to end,” Mercer said.

Casey informed the mayor about people like Kincer and Wolfe who agreed to keep an eye on the park for the month of September and shared their ideas with the city officials. Stenner couldn’t make any promises, but agreed to look into their suggestions.

[email protected]

Tags: ,

Category: People & Places

About the Author ()

I started my journalism career in 2002 with a daily newspaper chain. After various stops with them, I am happy to be back home! I graduated from Coshocton High School in 1998 and received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication in 2002 from Walsh University. I also earned several awards while working for daily papers, including being honored by Coshocton County’s veterans for the stories I wrote about them. I am honored and ready to once again shine a positive light on Coshocton County. I also am the proud mother of a little girl named Sophia!

Comments are closed.