By Elizabeth Stieber
Times Staff Writer
As hordes of toddlers descended the slides, climbed and crawled through the play sets and explored the other fun things at their new playground at Creative Beginnings Day Care, Ken Kucowski looked around — half amazed and half relieved.
"I’m very pleased. I didn’t think this day would ever come," he said of the playground, which he helped fund to rebuild in honor of his wife, who died of cancer two years ago.
"It’s a great tribute to Mary," he said. "It’s a little bittersweet, because she’s not physically here."
Kucowski, daughters Charlotte and Natalie, and the staff at Fox Chase Cancer Center joined in Creative Beginnings Day Care Center’s official playground opening last Thursday.
The day care center, located at the Rockledge Community Center at Huntingdon Pike and Church Road in Montgomery County, provides child-care services to Fox Chase Cancer Center employees.
Mary worked in the cancer center’s rehabilitation department and drove her daughters to the day-care center daily.
"The girls love it very much," Kucowski said of the day-care center.
They helped him decide what should go in the playground, and last Thursday they joined the other Creative Beginnings kids checking out the two large play sets with slides and a small rock-climbing wall.
The sisters also cut the yellow ribbon to officially dedicate the day-care center’s new playground.
Charlotte, 8, previously went to the center and now attends St. Matthew Elementary School in Mayfair. Natalie, 5, attends the day-care center.
Ken and Mary Kucowski had nonchalantly talked about a new playground every time they picked the little wood chips that cover the outdoor play area from the girls’ shoes and clothes.
In December 1998, Mary was pregnant with Natalie when doctors found a tumor on her brain. After an emergency cesarean section, she had surgery on the tumor and began radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
While his wife was still being treated, Kucowski decided that he would rebuild the playground, including new equipment and a safe rubber mat to replace the wood chips. The project cost about $100,000.
In order to pay for the construction, Kucowski held a golf outing the following October and raised $5,000.
With the help of Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Rockledge Community Center, he raised $75,000 through donations, four golf outings and three beef ’n’ beer fund-raisers, all of which were in memory of Mary Kucowski.
Kucowski was also a guest bartender at Casper’s Lounge in Mayfair, with all of his tips going toward the playground project.
The staff at Creative Beginnings also began fund-raising by letting the children design colorful tiles and asking their families to donate a few extra dollars toward the playground. The day-care center raised $2,000, and it plans to continue raising money.
Although Mary lost her battle with cancer two years ago, Ken Kucowski continued to raise money for the project, even asking people to donate money in lieu of flowers for her funeral.
Fox Chase Cancer Center helped him secure the final $25,000, and the Rockledge Community Center broke ground in June.
"This dream started four years ago over lousy little wood chips," Kucowski said jokingly to the crowd of Fox Chase Cancer Center staff and Creative Beginnings staff and students. "With a lot of determination and the help of family, friends and donations, dreams do come true."
When the children finally got to play on their new playground, one of them remarked, "Charlotte and Natalie’s father sure knows how to have fun."
The 130 youngsters at Creative Beginnings made a giant "Thank you" card and sang a special song to Kucowski.
The center’s staff also gave Ken, Charlotte and Natalie Kucowski gifts as tokens of their appreciation.
The youngsters, including Natalie, began enjoying the new playground equipment last week. They have been waiting very patiently and watched the progress from the classroom windows and outside the gates, said Creative Beginnings director Judy Taylor.
"They love it. There’s nothing not to love," she said of the children, who spend two periods every day out there.
During construction, the kids played on the field and playgrounds a few blocks away. Taylor said the community surrounding the day-care center asked about the progress and showed interest and enthusiasm for the new playground.
"I like the playground; it’s fun," said 4-year-old Jessie Doll as she and her brother Josh, 3, took a quick break from all the fun.
Their mother, Cheri Doll, said the kids would come home every day and tell her how the playground construction was coming along.
Not only do her kids have a fun new place to play, the playground is also dedicated to the memory of her former co-worker.
"It’s amazing," Doll said. "He’s (Ken) very heartfelt and amazing."
Kucowski’s next goal is to create a trust or foundation for cancer research in partnership with Fox Chase Cancer Center. ••
Reporter Elizabeth Stieber can be reached at 215-354-3036 or estieber@phillynews.com