Turley Publications photo by Ruth M. Lyon

Residents at Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park gathered on a recent Sunday to celebrate the new fountain, designed to beautify, but also to contribute ecologically to the pond and surroundings.

Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park celebrates new fountain

By Ruth M. Lyon

Turley Publications Reporter

BROOKFIELD - Residents of the 140 residential sites at Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park are proud of their community and what it has to offer. Recently, they announced that there’s new cause for celebration at the countryside area they call home.

“A year ago, some of us got together and decided we’d like to improve the condition of the pond. It’s a pretty pond, and we enjoy sitting outside McEachern Hall and watching the wildlife. But we thought the ecology of the pond could be improved, perhaps plant life could be kept better in check, and maybe even the mosquitoes could be controlled.

“So we got together, as a park endeavor, to see what could be done. We started a small campaign, collecting bottles and cans for the return money. We picked them up, and asked people to donate their cans. Before long, we had $300. The camp owns a pressure washer. I used it, charging a fee for washing people’s homes, and donated that money to the cause,” said spokesman Jack Yaro.

He continued, with comments from other Wagon Wheel residents, with the story of the fountain now adorning the center of the pond outside the recreation hall.

Even as the informal committee had gone about raising funds, he said, members had searched for information about how best to reach their stated goals: to beautify the pond, but also to protect the environment, the fish and turtles and other wildlife there, and to maintain the cleanliness of the water.

This fountain, residents say, aerates, thus purifies the water. “It cleans itself,” Yaro said.

At a Sunday gathering, the park’s residents joined in a turning-on-the-fountain celebration, followed by a luncheon on the deck, where the fountain’s play enhanced the view as they admired the pond and surroundings. Turtles sunned themselves, fish swam in the depths.

The fountain cost $1,800, they remarked, and the funds had been raised in a year’s time, with enough to spare for a few benches in the surrounding area, and yes, the party.