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Volunteers work together to 'spruce up' the community

MARION - The adage "it takes a village" was put into action on Saturday at Marion's Jones Park.

It took 42 volunteers, 15 local sponsors, and a 15-year-odl prodigy, 14 hours to work magic on the first project of a new initiative to transform the basketball court at the park into a work of art.

Spruce Up SoILL is the brainchild of Padra and Anthony Franks, owners of Yellow Door Inc., a Marion-based construction firm.

"I'm originally from Carbondale and my husband is from Marion," said Padra.

After owning a successful construction firm in Atlanta, the couple decided to move back home with their two children, junior high student Amiah, and kindergartner, Felix.

In a way, the children are the inspiration for the project.

"We want out kids to finish high school and see southern Illinois as a place they can live and thrive if they choose to do so," said Padra.

She also drew inspiration from working in the annual Carbondale Clean Up as a youth.

"You would work all day and at the end, it would look amazing," she said.

She hopes the Spruce Up SoILL projects will do that for the volunteers. "It's important that people feel a pride of ownership in their homes and communities."

The idea of the initiative is to strike a balance between functionality and aesthetics, much like they do with their construction projects.

"We put out a call for an artist and Maddie responded," said Padra, adding they were immediately impressed with her talent, ideas, and drive.

Fifteen-year-old Maddie Deiters is no stranger to mural painting. Her work covers the building on Route 37 across from the Marion Fire Station and another of her pieces adorns the back of Tower Square Pizza, part of the Marion Mural project.

With a solid plan, materials - and Maddie ended up figuring out how to adapt the concept to offset the availability problem of materials due to COVID - the group put out a call for volunteers.

Over 40 people from age 10 to 80 showed up to help on Saturday.

Beverly Daniel-Stewart, owner of "Taste of Bev" was one of the local sponsors, providing food and snacks for the workers.

"It was so great to see everyone working together," she said, noting that the park holds a special place for her family. "It was named after my husband's grandfather, John Willie Jones."

With the initial project a success, Padra said the next steps are to figure out fundraising and connect with other investors.

"A lot of this is having funds to do the projects," she said. "It's about collaboration."

But she is savoring the success of the initial project.

"My husband grew up in the same block (as the park)," said Padra. "That made it special."

Padra said they'll be looking around and planning upcoming projects. To see what's next, follow Sprice Up So ILL on Facebook.

Volunteers spent several hours on Saturday working to "spruce up" Jones Park in Marion. Courtesy of Beverly Daniel-Stewart