First Posted: 3/23/2015
FACTORYVILLE — Two parks in Factoryville will be renovated this summer, thanks to a member of the Factoryville Borough Council. Sadie Rozenburg, grant writer of Factoryville, wrote a few grants proposing future plans for both the Clinton Township-Factoryville Borough Joint Municipal Park and the Christy Mathewson Park.
Rozenburg wrote a grant to DCED (Department of Community Economic Development) to create a new concession stand with restrooms at the Joint Municipal Park. The park currently has a shed for a concession stand which will be a building. Factoryville Borough Council is hoping to bid out the masonry for the stand next month. Members of council are currently waiting for documents of approval from DCED.
Rozenburg also wrote a grant to DCNR (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) for a second soccer field at the Joint Municipal Park. This field will be regulation-sized and will have additional parking.
She also wrote a third grant to DCNR for the Christy Mathewson Park for an all-around trail as well as playground equipment. The playground equipment will include play pockets, egg-shaped seats for children. It will include facts about bees, birds and trees to educate the children.
“We’re just trying to encourage kids to enjoy nature and get exercise at the same time,” said Rozenburg. “We’re hoping that the elementary school kids (from Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center) could walk over the bridge (Trail’s covered bridge) and learn about things.”
Rozenburg mentioned that land for the Joint Municipal Park was purchased in 2001 to construct a park. She also said that Liz Ratchford was the grant writer for Factoryville Borough Council then.
“She (Ratchford) got the grant for the first soccer field,” Rozenburg said. “She got a grant for a pavilion that’s solar paneled, a green parking lot. She’s gotten lots of grants.”
The late Tom Davis, former vice president of Factoryville Borough Council, gave Rozenburg the opportunity to become the new grant writer after Ratchford took a job as grant writer for Keystone College.
“He (Davis) came knocking on my door one day, and asked me if I wanted the job,” said Rozenburg. “It’s all because of him that I got this job.”
The Factoryville Women’s Civic League honored Rozenburg with the “Woman of the Year” award for her grant writing for the parks. She and her husband, Keith, attended the civic league’s Christmas party at Nimble Hill Winery in Tunkhannock on Jan 13, unaware that Sadie was going to receive an award.
“It was a surprise,” Sadie said.
The Factoryville Women’s Civic League is a women’s organization which raises money for grants and projects for the community. It also awards a scholarship to a student of Lackawanna Trail Jr./Sr. High School every year. The civic league is also in charge of the Christy Mathewson 6K Race in the summer.
“They (civic league members) do amazing things,” said Rozenburg. “They are always raising money and finding ways to help the community grow and get better.”
Originally from Denver, Colorado, Sadie Rozenburg also lived in Baltimore, Maryland and Clarks Summit before moving to Factoryville in 2011.
“It’s a great place to raise a family,” she said.
She and her husband have two children, a daughter, Charlotte, 6, and a son, Asher, 3.
“I’m thrilled to see everything that’s going to happen in the parks in the coming years,” she said.