The Shaw Family Playground

We spent a sunny Sunday in one of Wisconsin’s most underrated cities and discovered yet another reason to love Sheboygan.

Known as the “Malibu of the Midwest,” Sheboygan offers premier wind surfing year-round.

It’s also, and most importantly, my father in-law’s birthplace and, to certain of his offspring, the sheepshead capital of the world.

A few years ago, I wrote about my magical tour of the Christopher Farm and Gardens. I am looking forward to introducing my granddaughters to Bookworm Gardens when they visit this summer.

On this trip, we discovered the Shaw Family Playground, a very busy park with the most charming origin story you’ll ever hear.

Ryan and Angie Shaw began working to fundraise for a playground after Angie gave birth to conjoined twins, Mateo and McHale in May 2006. In September of that year, a team of 65 medical professionals spent 19 hours separating the spinal cord the boys shared.

Both boys survived a surgery against tremendous odds. Doctors told their parents they had a 5% chance of one baby surviving. Today, though they both have spina bifida and some other health issues, they are thriving. As they grew up, they wanted a safe playground they could share with all their friends. So, they and their parents brainstormed ways to make that happen. They hosted fundraisers, visited area schools to survey students on what they’d like to see included in the playground, and met with designers to make it happen. Site preparations for the playground began in 2017 and the official ground breaking ceremony took place on July 16, 2018.

Today, the Shaw Family Playground operates as a fully accessible ADA playground. On the day we arrived, children of all ages, abilities and ranges of outwear shrieked with delight. A young boy in a winter parka executed a perfect backflip off a roller table, two girls in shorts and T-shirts waited their turn for the zip line, a family of three negotiated a four-person see-saw, a young man sat in an accessible swing and laughed and laughed.

The scene must have been exactly as the Shaws imagined it would be when they began planning and fundraising for the park.

You can watch their story here: