By COLLIN BREAUX
As temperatures rise with summer on the horizon, kids in Bonifay and Holmes County have somewhere to get cool.
A grand reopening was held for the splash pad at Middlebrooks Park in Bonifay Friday, May 24. As children ran through the water, officials and staff with the City of Bonifay, Waukesha Way, Holmes District School Board, Florida Power & Light, Bonifay Kiwanis Club, and Florida Department of Health attended the ceremony.
“There were some discussions about updating the splash pad,” Waukesha Way board member and former Bonifay Mayor Emily McCann said. “It’s been out of commission for a number of years until about this time last year. We were able to secure some funds from a number of you all here today. While this is the grand reopening, it’s actually in the middle of construction.”
McCann said the construction is why the grand reopening was held late May.
“I think it’s important not just to be there at the finish line but to see where it came from,” McCann said.
McCann said Waukesha Way–a civic organization that works with the City of Bonifay to facilitate free or low-cost recreational opportunities for children in Bonifay and Holmes County–extends their gratitude to the City, Public Works Department, Bonifay Police Department, Florida Power & Light, and Kiwanis Club.
“As some of you know, Bonifay PD walks every park every morning and every night,” McCann said. “The vandalism has decreased greatly and that’s a testament to the youth of the City of Bonifay.”
Florida Power & Light donated to the splash pad and Kiwanis Club also helped out with the project. The Department of Health facilitated sun sails being put up over the splash pad to provide shade.
“As you can see, the plumbing has been updated,” McCann said. “The concrete has been cleaned and repaired and patched and it has been painted by a local artist, Kate Steele, who owns and operates both Bush Paint and Steele’s Southern Interiors.”
Those upgrades are part of an initial phase.
“Phase two will be a 24-by-24 pole barn with concrete slab and accessible seating,” McCann said. “A push from the City of Bonifay has been to ensure their parks are accessible to all children, not just some.”
Sunsails will also go over each of the four benches and work is being done to ensure cameras are also at the splash pad for safety monitoring.
“As Emily said, Emily started these projects before I came along. If I can just hold a candle to what she started, I’ll be a good mayor,” Mayor Larry Cook said. “A lot of people in this city say we never do anything, never meet any needs. We are meeting needs. The City of Bonifay is changing. I hope the public sees that.”
Police Chief Johnny Whitaker has helped deter Bonifay’s vandalism problem, Cook said.
“It was costing us thousands of dollars,” Cook said. “The money Kiwanis was donating was going to repair vandalism. We would rather it go to a child that needed a scholarship than fixing broke toilets.”
City Executive Assistant and Grants Coordinator Sierra Smith said “great things happen when we all come together.”
Hannah Collins 
GARETT VALCOURT 
Jim Saunders 