The Blue Dragon Academy daycare facility is open for business! On Friday, May 31, staff, community members, and volunteers came together to move into the new building, and last Thursday, June 13, the Commercial Club sponsored a ribbon cutting at the BDA donor dinner.
“It was so nice,” said BDA board member Kris Frerk. “We’re overjoyed that we’re in the building.”
With the ribbon cutting and donor dinner, the project that’s been in planning and development for five years has finally come to full fruition. The donor board that will be prominently placed at the front of the building will have 54 donors at or above $500, and 30 donors under $500. Frerk says many more people donated in small amounts at raffles, fundraisers, and other events. However, there is still room for donations.
“[We’re] always accepting donations to pay down debt, and there’s always room to add names to the donor board of $500+,” Frerk said.
The BDA facility also held an Open House for the community on Saturday, June 15 during Jesse James Days.
“It [attendance] was real steady,” said BDA Director Heidi Fink.
Frerk remarked on the support she saw from the older members of the community at the open house.
“We were so pleased to see [that],” said Frerk. “They were so excited and impressed.”
However, the excitement doesn’t appear to be limited to grandparents- staff even brought their families to show off the new facility, and alumni stopped by.
“One of the kiddos who used to attend Little Dreamers,” said Frerk, “Rachel and Chad Hanisch’s little girl, came in and said, ‘Wow, this sure is an upgrade!’ Out of the mouths of babes!”
Now that they’re beginning their third week, things are starting to settle down a little bit.
“Logistics and planning have been huge,” said Director Heidi Fink. “Just getting routines figured out.” She said that the fencing should be completed by the end of this week, and the playgrounds should be finished in the next few weeks. In the meantime, they’re taking advantage of their closer proximity to the baseball field, the Jaycee Complex playground, and the pool.
“We’re at 100 of 103 spots for the summer,” said Fink, but they still have the capacity to take drop ins and smaller part-time spots, something they weren’t able to accommodate before. They’ll also have availability for this fall for all ages, which is nice to say for a daycare that has had a year-plus waiting list for the last several years.
