HOOPER — The sun was shining, the people were smiling, and a slight breeze, along with the fresh scent of hay, was present in the air at the Hooper Festival on Saturday, Oct. 7.

Hooper Town Park had a cozy, happy atmosphere with approximately 55 people. There were hay bales spread out over the park. People sat on hay bales and talked. Children ran back and forth on the grass. The vendor booths were busy.

Many people looked at and talked about the new playground equipment that was installed on the other side of Hooper Town Park.

Installation of the equipment began on Sept. 4. The playground equipment was donated by a local school. Over a month, all the playground equipment was put up with help from volunteers in the community. A grant for the equipment installation and revitalization of the park was initiated by town trustee Mimi Dolan. There were three phases to the playground and park's progression, and the installation of the equipment was phase one and Saturday celebrated its completion.

Alamosa County Commissioner Lori Laske also attended the festival.

At 1 p.m., people gathered near the middle corner of the park, where a red ribbon with a bow had been placed, to officially open the newly installed playground equipment to the public.

Hooper Mayor Tommy Dentler said, “The last month the whole entire town has come together to put together this playground for the community. They went from Saturday from 9 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, weekdays from 5 in the afternoon until 8 at night. We were working in the rain, wind, in the dark, we had headlights on, just to get it done. We are very, very, excited. I am grateful and humbled. A lot of us believed that we could not get it done in the specific time frame. I am very grateful and excited that we did. Thank you, guys, very much for that. I really appreciate it. I am going to welcome up Lori Laske. She is going to go ahead and say a couple of words and we will go from there. Thank you.”

Commissioner Laske then said, “I am Lori Laske as the mayor mentioned. I am the Alamosa County Commissioner that is for this region. I just want to tell you we are proud of Alamosa County helping with some of the funding for this project. The truly remarkable thing about this project is what this community has done in your leadership. When you have Mayor Dentler, and the board of trustees to lead you in this and to put this project together, specifically we had Mimi Dolan one of your trustees that got a matching grant. This is truly a sense of community. I can tell you I have never seen this much commitment and devotion from the community. I just want to tell you I take a lot of pride in that in Alamosa. I also want to tell the rest of Colorado, bring it on. I can tell you what the community looks like, it’s called Hooper, Colorado! Would you all help me give a big round of applause to the mayor and trustees.”

Commissioner Laske then recognized the trustees. Mayor Dentler gave a special thank you to Dolan.

“She is actually the one who started the grant, took care of it, and put it into motion,” he said. “The first grant ever in the town of Hooper, in 125 years. We want to thank you and we appreciate it from the bottom of our heart.”

Trustee Dolan said, “I have lived here for over 25 years, and in that time, I have never seen so much community at work. It is amazing and heartwarming because I know that this is where I am going to stay. I know this is my home. It is so nice to see it coming together like this.”

Mayor Dentler then called everyone together to cut the ribbon.

“Alright guys on the count of 3 the playground is open,” he said. Mayor Dentler counted down from three to one and cut the ribbon.

Mayor Dentler also chuckled and said, “This is for the kids, and for the community, and a couple of the guys went down the slide too.”