On Nov. 20, local companies CH+N Site Construction and Hassel's Roll-Off Service teamed up with the Southern End Community Association (SECA) to make a few improvements to Memorial Park, 299 Park Ave., Quarryville. The businesses volunteered their time and equipment to make the recreation area a safer place for members of the community to enjoy, as well as more pleasing to the eye.

The partnership was suggested by Robbie Hassel, who serves as both a project coordinator for CH+N Site and one of SECA's board members. Earlier this year, the community association drafted a list of goals to improve the park and repair areas that had become less safe or were run-down from decades of use. One of SECA's goals was to repaint the lines in its parking lot, and Hassel saw the potential for CH+N Site to help with the project. Hassel took the idea to Matt Eshelman, president of CH+N Site, who hardly needed to be convinced to jump on board.

"It's super important to us that we give back to the community," Eshelman said. "He told me what he wanted to do and why, and it fit that goal perfectly. We were able to give back to the place a lot of us live." Although CH+N Site's office is located in Lancaster, many of Eshelman's employees live in Quarryville, and Eshleman is a former resident of the area.

Volunteers from CH+N Site spent the day restriping the entire parking lot, including designated parking spaces for people with disabilities. Trevor Marsh, director of SECA, said the restoration of the parking spaces was one of his main priorities; SECA hosts a bingo night every other Friday that is regularly attended by senior community members who require accessible parking. The lines in the parking lot, which had become faded over the years, are now highly visible.

The volunteers offered to help with a few other projects at the park, such as removing several tree stumps that had been an eyesore for years. CH+N Site workers also installed eight concrete bumper blocks in the parking lot, in addition to placing a concrete end wall at the end of a pipe connected to the pond. Hassel's Roll-Off Service provided a dumpster for various waste items that volunteers cleaned up throughout the park. "We advertised a few of the projects we were hoping to get completed in November, so it was a blessing to have (the volunteers) lend a hand literally days after," Marsh said. "As far as future projects, the list is very long, but we want to revamp the park and bring it back to life." SECA will have a board meeting in January to discuss its goals and initiatives to improve the park in the new year.

Hassel said CH+N Site plans to continue its annual tradition of spending a day to complete a project to benefit the local community. "This year was SECA; next year could be them again or another organization in the area," added Hassel.