Two summers, two pool parties, one parks department that said yes both times.
Lebanon Parks Department opened Boswell Pool to our foster, kinship, guardianship, and adoptive families not once but twice this summer. The first time, 56 kids from 22 families cannonballed their way through an afternoon. The second time, our biggest Kids Night Out yet, 86 kids from 29 families filled the pool for one last summer evening together.
Boswell Pool became, for a few hours each time, a place where nobody had to plan anything. Kids just got to be kids, splashing and laughing until they couldn’t finish a sentence. Parents got to sit back and talk to other parents who understand their lives.
That kind of access doesn’t happen without a parks department willing to open their doors to families who need exactly this kind of ordinary, joyful afternoon.
In the Ozarks, this is what community looks like.
Partners
This community is built by the people and businesses who show up, not because they have to, but because they belong to something. These are the neighbors who make everything possible.
Meet our neighbors →
