POTTSBORO, TX -- A new park unlike anything this town has ever seen is almost ready to open, and some students did their part to help.
Students spent about two hours this morning laying out squares of sod end to end in the ditch along the main road of the park on Grayson Street.
"We've all been working together and it's just nice having the athletic group coming together with the coaches and everything to do something for our community," says student Casey Evans.
Some of the kids were ready to put their strength to work after taking part in a morning workout program at school all summer long.
"This should be the last day of it but instead of doing our weight lifting and speed training we decided to bring all the guys and girls out here," says athletic director Matt Poe.
"They've been able to do in an hour and a half what it probably would have taken us two weeks to do," says city manager Kevin Farley.
"It's fun but it's not that easy, because you need to get it all even," says student Jessica Barnett.
The park is named for James Thompson, who grew up in Cherokee County, Ala., and later ended up in Texas where he became Grayson County's chief justice at statehood in 1846.
One of his descendants donated 23 acres to help create the park, with two ball fields, three soccer fields, and a pond. Students say they're glad to do their part to help make it a reality.
"The winds pretty bad when you pick up the grass and stuff, but other than that, it's not too hot out here, we did it early in the morning," says student Justin Lawler.
According to Farley, Texas Parks and Wildlife gave $400,000 for the park, and that was matched by the city in part from the value of the donated land. The park should be ready to open in a few weeks.
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