It’s common to hear children say they want to go to the park to play with their friends, but at Hobbs Playground you’ll also find many adults who echo those sentiments. They look forward to going to the park to meet up with their friends, too. The newly built, inclusive playground is a haven for children of all ages but also brings many adults together, especially members of the local nanny community.
“Oh, yes I love to go to Hobbs to meet up with my friends, too,” nanny Jill Thomas said. “It’s a great place of socialization for me as well as the kids.”
Thomas cares for Annie and Bailey Kanter, 21-month-old twins and their brother Hayes, 5. The Hobbs adventures don’t stop for the children who make lots of friends while climbing, sliding and swinging on the new equipment, but a bonus the park offers is what it brings for the adults, too.
Thomas called the playground a “lifeline.” There she met Melissa Mahoney, a fellow nanny, who says Hobbs is a “blessing.”
Hobbs Playground was rebuilt in 2022 thanks to fundraising by Marblehead Family Fund members who saw the antiquated playground equipment and believed the community deserved more. When former MFF chair Laney Dowling joined the group in 2017, the design for the park was all set and it was time for fundraising. Events like the Gingerbread Festival and Pumpkin Illumination helped get the campaign rolling, but then the pandemic hit, and MFF members grappled with how they could continue fundraising.
“We started a capital campaign, and that really brought us to the Hobbs we have today,” Dowling said. Watching the funds increase during that time thanks to community donors was special to see, Dowling added.
“We got to hear stories from donors who had kids who are now in their 20s. They had such wonderful memories of the park; they wanted to give back.”
Dowling’s heart is in Hobbs and calls the project she led a labor of love.
“It feels really good that the community is enjoying it,” Dowling said. “When the kids are that young and you’re looking for an activity, people can pop into Hobbs and meet someone they know or make a new friend.”
That’s exactly what many local nannies do on a daily basis. Dowling made friends with some nannies when she brought her own children to play on the new equipment and still exchanges Christmas cards with some of them.
Mahoney brings Henrik Demerle, 18 months, for some playground fun and understands the bond Dowling made with the nannies she met at Hobbs. As a nanny for 30 years, she said there are still some things she needs to talk out, like changing nap times from two-a-day to one. “Sometimes you change ages, and you need reminders,” she said, adding the nanny community is always there with sage advice that works.
Mahoney knows the playground well from when she took her own children and neighbors’ children there over the years. She walks her dogs by the park daily and watched the old park go and the new one grow into what it is today. She even became nostalgic when she saw the old rocking horses taken out and had a moment thinking she wanted one to keep in her yard for old time’s sake. She is grateful for the changes despite the nostalgia.
Thomas was a nanny in New Jersey for many years before moving back to the area. Being away for a while meant she wasn’t aware of the many children’s programs in the area and didn’t know any other local nannies until she brought Annie, Bailey, and Hayes to Hobbs.
“I used to put the twins back-to-back in one swing,” she recalled. Of course, that got many adults commenting on how cute they were, and she started to make friends herself. “It can be lonely being a nanny as the young kids don’t talk.”
Thomas and Mahoney both said the best thing their fellow nannies provide is support and advice on activities going on in Marblehead. “What to do when it rains and we can’t go to Hobbs,” Mahoney mentioned. Both noted story time with Miss Debbie at Abbot Library (10:30 a.m. on Wednesdays) as one of the events they learned about from other nannies and now attend regularly.
The children make friends, too, of course, while running from the we-go-round, a fully wheelchair-accessible component that replaced the rusty, old merry-go-round, to the climbing structures, slides and various swings. For the nannies, the grassy area next to the playground provides a perfect lunch spot. Come around noon, and you’ll likely see the nannies spreading their blankets while the older kids help their younger friends set up their little chairs with trays. There they enjoy lunch while talking about their day. All the children help clean up when lunch is over.
The recent run of great weather was a gift to the nannies who spent many of those sunny days at Hobbs, but even in cold weather, Hobbs is bustling with activity.
“It is showing that the new generation is coming and they’re going to enjoy the park,” Dowling said. “It’s so wonderful to see it full of people.”
