Design criteria included incorporating a tricycle path, inclusive play, movement play for autistic children, creative play, and ample shade all into an ADA accessible play area. Safety surfacing had to be low maintenance, inviting, and have the ability to support wheel chair traffic.

The approved design offered ADA ramp access to all deck levels, movement play, group play, slides, sand boxes, spring rider, tricycle track, and much more. Playground Grass was selected as the safety surfacing because of its accessibility factors and for its inviting nature.

A Grant from the Hughes foundation made the dream possible. Check out the pictures to see the transition and finished installation.

Before the New Playground

During Playground Construction

Little Wings Finished Playground

Little Wings Finished Playground

Covered Area

Lots of Room to Play

Some people get an MBA and go on to sell investments, insurance or real estate.

Pat McNamara sells playgrounds.

In the playground business, “you’re selling to moms and kids, and they want this type of stuff, and they want it to be safe and … fun,” he said.

“‘Fitness and fun’ is my slogan.”

Working Hard at Playing Hard

By Bryan Gentry
Published: June 14, 2010

Some people get an MBA and go on to sell investments, insurance or real estate.

Pat McNamara sells playgrounds.

About three years ago, he started Max Play Fit, a company that helps people design and build playgrounds that meet their needs. Last week, his fifth local playground was installed at Amelon United Methodist Church in Madison Heights.

McNamara said his new career is a nice recess from some of his previous work, including 25 years in manufacturing.

In the playground business, “you’re selling to moms and kids, and they want this type of stuff, and they want it to be safe and … fun,” he said.

“‘Fitness and fun’ is my slogan.”

McNamara started his career by managing and supervising manufacturing projects. After a stint at American Can in Chicago, he moved to Lynchburg to work at C.B. Fleet and later Frito Lay. In 1997, he earned his MBA at Lynchburg College.

McNamara said he has been a sports enthusiast for years. He coached his four children in baseball and basketball. About 11 years ago, he started officiating high school softball games with Colonial Officials Association. Later on, he added other sports to his repertoire, including basketball and lacrosse.

In 2005, McNamara decided to put his MBA to work for himself. He launched his own business selling fitness equipment that incorporates video games to get kids interested in exercise.

A couple of years later, McNamara’s brother and sister-in-law suggested that he look into selling playground equipment. They had been successful in their own playground business for years. They invited him to a trade show in Indianapolis, where he decided playgrounds would be his next venture.

It was a quick and easy decision.

“Did I do all the stuff I learned in MBA school and evaluate it? No,” McNamara said. “I knew I could be a good representative.”

His sister-in-law showed him the companies that she had found provided the best equipment. McNamara took a class to become a certified playground equipment inspector. About a year later, he sold his first playground.

McNamara still sells some fitness games, but he focuses on playgrounds. He likes that it brings together his project management experience, his love for sports and his business degree.

McNamara has sold playground equipment to five schools or churches in the Lynchburg area and several in other regions. A playground he sold to Forest Elementary School is now pictured in the catalog of Xccent Play, one of his suppliers.

With schools facing budget cuts and teacher layoffs, they are less likely to spend money on playgrounds, he said. Because of that, the business is not doing as well as McNamara had hoped, but “it’s ramping toward that.”

Last year McNamara got his biggest project to date, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Max Play Fit received a $158,116 contract to install two playgrounds totaling 1,300 square feet at a set of recreational lakes in East Lyn, W.Va.

That large project forced him outside of his comfort zone, but it provided good experience, McNamara said. It made 2009 a good year.

“Last year was my best year to date, even though the first half of the year was bad,” McNamara said.

MaxPlayFit carries a complete line of strength and cardio equipment. Serving the Mid-Atlantic region including: Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia, and West Virginia we pride ourselves in providing outstanding service and great value.
We have placed equipment at YMCA’s, Colleges, Universities, Retirement Centers, High Schools, and Middle Schools. Products include TRUE cardio equipment, Magnum Strength equipment, Troy-USA free weights, Williams Strength products, and Interactive Fitness for K-12 fitness.

We have updated our website to include the TCPN contract information and logo under the “How to Buy” tab on our home page. Please check out The Cooperative Purchasing Network’s TCPN) website (ite (www.tcpn.org). They have updated their website to include our logo and contact information. The TCPN website also includes information for every state relating to procurement laws in order to assure government agencies that they are able to utilize and become a member of TCPN. Virtually all state, county and local governments are eligible to join. If you are aware of a customer that is already a member of another purchasing co-op, they are eligible to join TCPN as well. Membership is free and there is no requirement to make any purchases.

MaxPlayFit offers a range of playground equipment to meet your budget and to keep your kids active, having fun, and wanting to come back day after day. Our installers are certified in playground safety to assure the best play experience possible.

After 90-days of intense research, public input and best-practices discussions the task force issued its 70 recommendations in May 2010. It was entitled: “Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity in a Generation.” Since most readers of this newsletter are involved in physical education or fitness in some form, we will focus on the final group of recommendations, “Increasing Physical Activity.”

There were four other areas that relate to reducing childhood obesity. These include:
• Getting children a healthy start on life, with good prenatal care for their parents; support for breastfeeding; adherence to limits on “screen time”; and quality child care settings with nutritious food and ample opportunity for young children to be physically active.
• Empowering parents and caregivers with simpler, more actionable messages about nutritional choices based on the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans; improved labels on food and menus that provide clear information to help parents make healthy choices for children; reduced marketing of unhealthy products to children; and improved health care services, including BMI measurement for all children.
• Providing healthy food in schools, through improvements in federally-supported school lunches and breakfasts; upgrading the nutritional quality of other foods sold in schools; and improving nutrition education and the overall health of the school environment.
• Improving access to healthy, affordable food, by eliminating “food deserts” in urban and rural America; lowering the relative prices of healthier foods; developing or reformulating food products to be healthier; and reducing the incidence of hunger, which has been linked to obesity.

We are pleased to announce that Krauss Craft, Inc. DBA Playcraft Systems has been named as a Preferred Provider to Head Start Body Start! We submitted 5 value packages (the maximum number allowed) in response to a bid solicitation and all 5 of our packages were selected for inclusion on the Preferred Provider List. This list will be distributed to Head Start programs nationwide, announced in the HSBS newsletter and posted on the HSBS website.

I have attached a copy of the approved packages. The prices reflected include freight and installation to any Head Start. The maximum package price allowed is $5,000. Head Start Body Start (www.headstartbodystart.org) is a national organization whose mission is to promote physical activity, outdoor play, and healthy eating to Head Start and Early Head Start Centers. This organization plans on giving grants of up to $5,000 each to Head Start Centers (approximately $6,000,000 total over the next 3 years). The idea is that a Head Start center will receive grant money which can be used to purchase 1 or more value packages on the Preferred Provider List.

Design: With your needs and ideas in mind, our highly trained designers and engineers take the next step. Utilizing state of the art CAD technology, they create working drawings that include a top view, site plan, front and back perspectives, and full color 3D renderings so you can see the playground you’ve envisioned.

Manufacture: Our manufacturing process uses the latest CAM technology to create precision parts and components including climbers and decks, and rotationally molded plastic components like slides and roofs.

Package/ Ship: Quality control is extremely important. We check each piece for high quality consistency at every step of production; then prior to packaging, we check for flaws again before the equipment moves on to our shipping department.

Install: With every project shipped, we provide comprehensive and detailed installation instructions specific to that project. We also supply a customized maintenance kit and maintenance instructions.

Play: It’s time to reap the rewards of all the hard work, so turn the kids loose to ENJOY!

Spinning – Helps develop the body’s awareness of where it is in time and space. Improves understanding of the characteristics of movement like force, direction, and speed.

Sliding – Improves leg and hip flexibility. Helps with the development of special awareness, movement experience, and looping. Teaches increased risk acceptance based on attained skills through practice.

Climbing – Promotes muscular strength and flexibility. Develops body management skills on unstable surfaces. Helps with spatial awareness and arm and leg coordination.

Swinging – Promotes aerobic fitness and whole body awareness. Helps educate the body in synchronized movement. Demonstrates the importance of timing in transferring energy during movement.

Balancing – Helps with body control and positioning when standing still or moving. Promotes strength and endurance throughout the whole body. Introduces mechanical principals important to most sports, such as counterbalance, base of support, equilibrium, and center of gravity.