Kidz Konnection raises funds for a playground

Dani Cross, event chair Tony LeMon and Mary Ann Haase

Bruce Wainer, Yvette Fontenot and St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis

Being in the playground as a young child—crawling all over the jungle gym, trying to see how high up you can swing and making sand castles with buckets—brings back fond memories for many adults. Unfortunately, not all playgrounds are accessible to children with disabilities. Kidz Konnection wants to solve that problem by building playgrounds which are at least 70 percent accessible. On Feb. 27, the group hosted a “Kulinary Extravaganza,” to raise funds to build its first “boundless” playground, to be located at the St. Tammany trailhead on Koop Drive in Mandeville. (It is tentatively scheduled to open in September.)
The food, of course, was amazing and diverse, with Acme Oyster House’s raw oyster bar, Artesia’s onion soup, Trey Yuen’s eggrolls and Zoë’s Bakery’s cakes. The silent and live auctions had something for everyone as well, with highlights being a football signed by Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning and dinner for 10 at Brennan’s. Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown was the featured entertainment, and though he had to cancel due to illness his band played at the party, as did Four Unplugged. Due to ticket sales, sponsorships, auction proceeds, T-shirt and donor brick sales, Kidz Konnection raised $250,000. •