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Date: 9/3/2015
WILBRAHAM – The Recreation Department will host a dedication on Sept. 5 for Amy’s Sparkle Park at Spec Pond, a water spray park named in remembrance of Amy Lord, a Wilbraham native who was murdered in July 2013 at the age of 24 while living in Boston.
The ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. at Amy’s Sparkle Park at Spec Pond’s beach complex at 45 Boston Road.
Kimberly Lord, Amy’s 24-year-old younger sister, told Reminder Publications she and her family are excited for the dedication.
“I think it’s a great thing for the town to have and it's something Amy would have really loved,” she added. “I think to have the dedication will bring more attention to it and people will be able to know about it and enjoy it.”
Kimberly Lord noted that Amy had “a young spirit” and enjoyed having fun.
"She loved the town too, so I think she would be proud that she has something that’s giving back to other people in the town,” she said.
Parks & Recreation Director Bryan Litz said the department had been working on the dedication for more than a year. The spray park opened June 20 and closed for the season on Aug. 23.
“In 2006 we did a master plan for Spec Pond and part of that master plan included a sprinkler park located within the beach complex,” he added. “About a year ago, the friends and family of the Lords approached me about naming something after Amy at Spec Pond.
“After giving it some thought, I suggested to them that we name the spray park after [Lord] because it’s just a place that everyone’s happy, running around, having fun, which epitomized Amy,” he continued.
Litz said the spray park was funded with $125,000 of a combination of Community Preservation Act funds as well as money raised through the Wilbraham Friends of the Recreation Department.
He added that the park is approximately 600 square feet and includes features such as ground water sprays, a bucket, and overhead sprays.
“One of the main attractions of the facility – especially for the younger kids at the spray park – is a water table,” Liz said. “It’s a big three-legged water table that the younger kids can splash around in and play in.”
Litz said a Wilbraham Falcons youth football game is set to take place after the memorial dedication at 4:30 p.m.
Lord was a former cheerleader who began cheerleading in Wilbraham’s youth programs and progressed through her years with the sport to become a captain while attending Minnechaug Regional High School.
“A lot of the kids playing football will be wearing pink wristbands in memory of Amy and then we have some pink shirts made up that we’re going to get coaches and some association members to wear during that day,” he added.
Donations are still being accepted towards Amy’s Sparkle Park in order to complete a second phase of additions at the park, which would include a new shade structure, a concrete walkway around the site’s bathrooms as well as outdoor rinse stations, Litz said.
The goal is to raise at least $10,000 for the second phase of additions at Amy’s Sparkle Park, he noted.
All check donations can be made out to the Wilbraham Friends of Recreation?PO Box 283, Wilbraham, MA 01095.