By JON BAKER

PAWTUCKET — Luis Barros figured the best way to spend early Thursday afternoon was to walk with his 4-year-old niece, Tamia, for a visit with his grandmother, housed at Kennedy Manor.

As the two strolled down Barton Street, Barros admitted being stunned at the vision in front of him — call it, for now, the Pawtucket Citizens Development Corporation “Community Tot Lot.”
“I’ve been down here the last few weeks, and I knew something was going on, but I didn’t know how big it was,” said Barros, who resides with his family on George Street. “This is a perfect place for  kids to play and be safe.
“There are a lot of kids around here, and I’ve seen them play in the street or on the sidewalks. It’s pretty dangerous,” he added. “Not anymore.”
When Barros asked Tamia if she wanted to visit someday, she just grinned and nodded.
That’s just the response approximately 15 volunteers wanted to hear as they finished painting a mural on the fence — 128 feet long and six-feet high — lining the back. This was just one of over a dozen projects 120 volunteers representing about 35 area businesses completed at city sites as part of the fifth annual Pawtucket Proud Day.
Next Thursday, Mayor James E. Doyle and other dignitaries officially will open the park, which also will contain a community bulletin board, with a 10:30 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Collette Vacations CEO and Pawtucket Foundation co-chairman Daniel J. Sullivan conceived the “Proud Day” idea five years ago.
 He wanted to demonstrate the desire and commitment of the local business community to the city’s revitalization.
On Thursday, those volunteers chose to beautify -- via the planting of flowers and mulching -- such locations as the Barton and Dexter streets’ intersection; Hodson Park at Slater Mill; the Elizabeth Johnson House/Pawtucket Historical Research Center on Fruit Street; Tolman High; Varieur, Winters and Little elementary schools; Blackstone Valley Visitor Center; and Central Falls YWCA.
After over six hours in the sun, all were invited to the Visitor Center for a pizza party, and to view slides taken of their work.
During that celebration, Collette Vacations’ Community Relations Director Lynne Kelly presented the annual “Golden Bucket” award to Jack Carney, Pawtucket’s Department of Public Works Director.
“We never imagined this day being so successful, and it’s all because of the volunteers; this ‘Bucket’ should go to them,” a shocked Carney said. “We (in the DPW) never could have done all this work by ourselves … When this ‘Proud Day’ was first developed, I wasn’t sure if a lot of volunteers could do the work they’re not used to doing.
“I wasn’t sure how successful it was going to be, but these people have embraced this,” he continued. “They keep coming back. They deserve all the credit.”
Stated Heather Senecal, the Pawtucket Foundation’s Program Associate: “These people have put in over 720 man/woman hours on these projects, and we thank them. Last year, we had about 130 signed up, but we had 30 or so cancellations due to work responsiblities. This year, we had about five.
“For months now, I’ve been receiving phone calls from people asking, ‘When is Proud Day? I want to help!’ It’s been absolutely thrilling,” she added. “It’s nice to see so many people wanting to give back to the community they live in, work in.”

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Call the PCDC “Tot Lot” a prime example.
According to PCDC revitalization coordinator Colleen Daley-Ndoye, her corporation wanted to build a playground next to a 14-unit condominium complex. Over the past few years, she received donations from a community development block grant ($75,000), the United Way ($25,000) and the Pawtucket Foundation ($3,000).
“This was a community safety project, so we needed to speak with neighbors and police to see what they wanted; it was going to be a playground, but we decided to do something for younger children because of its smallish size,” she said. “Parents can sit here at the picnic table and watch their youngsters play.”
As for the mural’s design, Senecal enlisted local freelance artist Brent Bachelder and a host of children (ages 6-12) involved with the after-school program. A couple of weeks ago, after much of the park’s construction, those children were asked to draw sports and recreation pictures on a sheet the size of typing paper.
Then came the hard part: Bachelder, 41 but a kid at heart, precisely measured the fence, collected the drawings, scanned them into his home computer and then pieced them together “to make it look right.” He created transparencies for an overhead projector, then -- beginning at 9 p.m., Tuesday -- placed each drawing’s image on the wall and traced them with a black “Sharpie.”
“I spent probably 15 hours trying to make it all fit; that was tough,” Bachelder grinned. “You should have seen it (Thursday) morning; it was black and white. Now it’s a wall of color, kids playing football and baseball, skateboarding, bird-watching, kite-flying, those kinds of things. This is exactly what the kids drew.”
When 10 children arrived to help paint the wall, along with a bevy of adult volunteers, Bachelder asked them to find their drawing. Some had trouble, as the images were about 20 times the original size.
“When they did recognize them, it was cool,” he said. “You should have seen the kids’ faces when I told them their drawings would be here forever. I wish I could see them 30 years from now, when they come back.”
Bachelder had help, of course. Sherwin-Williams donated gallons of assorted colors of paint, and PCDC community organizer Shandi Brown oversaw the project.
Kerri Vecoli, a secretary in Mayor Doyle’s office, wouldn’t have missed the chance to volunteer.
“My coworker, Therese Gorman, told me about it; she said she had taken part before, and it was fun, so I jumped at the opportunity,” Vecoli said. “I’ve volunteered for other things before, like Habitat for Humanity and walking marathons for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
“Why do this? I truly enjoy it. Being side by side with the kids and painting with them, it was a lot of fun,” she added. “These pictures were their creations, so it’s very rewarding. It just makes you happy inside, and you also really appreciate all the things you have in your life. My kids are all grown up now, so this is a blast.”