On Saturday, the drought-stricken, water-restricted rural community of King City, California celebrated the restoration of a huge water slide, paid for by money raised by the community. The slide was retrofitted without using any city funds.
Sharlene Hughes, chairman of the city’s Recreation Committee, told KSWB 8, “People were coming out of the woodwork, saying, “You can’t tear down the slide! You can’t tear down the slide! Which was a great way to start of the campaign, that, you know, we need help. If you want to keep it going, we need help.”
In roughly one year, the city raised slightly over $90,000 by holding fund-raising events and soliciting grants.
Hughes continued, “There was a time that we thought that we’d have to tear down the slide and probably wouldn’t have enough money to build another one.”
Andrea Wasson, the city’s recreation coordinator, chimed in, “We’ve also received other grant monies from Chevron to provide every first-grade student in King City with two weeks of free swimming lessons.”
The slide will be open every Sunday until June 6, at which point it will be open every day. King City will also celebrate the annual Salinas County Fair this week, starting Thursday and ending Sunday.