| | Published September 27th, 2023
| Rancho Laguna Park to receive fitness equipment donation
| | | By Vera Kochan |  | | Bobbie Preston (second from right) and friends enjoy fitness equipment. Photo provided |
Best known as a dog park that happens to also have a children's playground and a monarch butterfly habitat/garden, Rancho Laguna Park will soon add another feature to its premises. In memory of her husband Tom, who recently passed away, Moraga resident Bobbie Preston is working on raising funds to donate fitness equipment to the park.
Parks and Recreation Director Mackenzie Brady's Sept. 13 staff report stated, "Bobbie reached out to staff in July inquiring to the possibility of donating fitness equipment to Rancho Laguna Park in Tom's name. Staff worked with Bobbie on an appropriate location that would allow the monarch butterflies to retain their quiet, allow dogs to not have access, allow parents to use the equipment while children may be playing, provide shade, and add value to currently unused space."
Tom Preston was a resident that kept himself involved in the community with projects such as Cycle Recycle, the Pear Festival, the Rancho Laguna Monarch Butterfly Garden, Moraga Community Fair, and pruning the pear trees on the Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School property. He was a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) provider, and more.
According to Preston, her husband was a "lifelong exercise fanatic and worked out every morning and walked at Rancho Laguna Park almost every day. He was attending a three-week fitness camp in Utah when he passed away at 80 in May."
Greenfields Outdoor Fitness will install eight of their state-of-the-art machines, two of which are ADA-compliant and can all-together accommodate 22 people at the same time. The equipment is designed for use by ages 14 and older and will be enclosed by a fence to keep dogs from entering the area. Also included on the premises will be an automated external defibrillator (AED) device, a bench and possibly a water fountain. The project is expected to cost approximately $99,000 with funding through private donations. The only cost to the town will be staff's installation of the equipment. Bobbie Preston is hoping that the "Fitness Zone" will be ready for use by the end of October.
One of her husband's favorite mantras was "Motion is the lotion," said Preston. "Exercising was a way of life for Tom and very important to him."
Anyone wishing to participate in the tribute and gift to the town of Moraga can send a tax-deductible check (annotated: "Preston Memorial") to: Lamorinda Lions, 17 El Camino Flores, Moraga, CA 94556. |
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA