Memorial playground’s 25th anniversary goes ahead in Cape Breton despite severe rainfall

Saturday marked the 25th anniversary celebration of a playground in Dominion, N.S., that honours the memory of a little girl.

The weather forced the festivities for the Marcia Fiolek Memorial Playground to be moved inside, but that didn't stop a big crowd from gathering at the Branch 78 Royal Canadian Legion just up the road in the seaside community.

"The crowd is remarkable. This is the little town that could, I'll tell you,” said Janine Fiolek, Marcia Fiolek’s mother.

Fiolek’s daughter dreamed up the idea for a community playground back in the 1990s and started fundraising for it by selling lollipops around her community.

Marcia Fiolek died of leukemia in 1996 at age 10.

The playground she had envisioned opened two years later in July 1998.

Now, it's been a quarter century since the facility first opened to the public.

"It's bittersweet, I think,” Janine Fiolek said. “I wish she was here, and we really, really miss her, but we're really glad to see so many kids get to enjoy what she started."

It's also been a year since another big milestone for the Marcia Fiolek Memorial Playground.

In June 2022, more than $100,000 in accessible upgrades were completed.

Marcia's father Barrie Fiolek said that's another testament to community support, and the work done by volunteers on the playground's committee.

"For 25 years, the committee has been growing and it just keeps the whole playground modernizing every year -- so we keep on adding to it and adding to it,” he said.

Recently, the Fioleks say there has been somewhat of a problem with vandalism at the facility but that public awareness and playground users keeping an eye out for trouble seems to have nipped the issue in the bud for now.

"We may have to look into video surveillance, but we'll see,” Janine Fiolek said.

Back at Saturday’s celebrations, where the Turnbull Brothers of “Canada's Got Talent” fame played a few tunes, the Fioleks figured the turnout despite the rain and last-minute venue change said a lot about their daughter's legacy.

"How much they love the playground and how much they love Marcia, too,” Janine Fiolek said. “It just warms my heart, and it's very emotional but it warms my heart to think so many people still remember her and are here today for her."

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