- April 28, 2024
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Maribeth and Rob Ditmars
Erin Ditmars and her daughters Skyla Sousa and Saradi Bontrager cut the ribbon on the new playground.
The new playground was built by numerous volunteers, including local firefighters.
Joyce and Jackie Adase and Sue Funck
The new playground was built by numerous volunteers, including local firefighters.
Where Angels Play Foundation Founder Bill Lavin shares the organization’s mission with the crowd.
Before the ceremony began, the Sarasota Fire Department presented the colors.
Carlos Soto, father of Victoria Soto, who died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting saving her students, shares his story with the crowd.
Marilyn Highland, Tracy Bakich, Jane Keil Yoder and Dana Bakich, who thought of introducing the Ditmars to Where Angels Play
Annie McCaffery, Barbara Coleman and Elaina Valentine
Carlos Soto, father of Victoria Soto, who died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting saving her students, presents a jacket to Rob Ditmas, father to Christopher and Jarrod Ditmars.
Sarasota commissioner Paul Caragiulo holds a flag representing Where Angels Play. The flag will remain in Sarasota.
Representatives from the last playground built in Rwanda hold a flag.
Erin Ditmas, sister to Christopher and Jarrod, holds the Where Angels Play flag.
The Ditmars family reads the plague sitting in front of the playground.
Erin Ditmars and her daughters Skyla Sousa and Saradi Bontrager cut the ribbon on the new playground.
South Lido Beach is officially home to a new playground.
But it’s one that comes with a mission and extensive purpose, remembrance and reflection.
The playground is the 48th to be built by the Where Angels Play Foundation, which began following Hurricane Sandy and the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Founder Bill Lavin, who at the time of the founding was president of the New Jersey State Firefighters’ Mutual Benevolent Association, had previously worked on building playgrounds with other firefighters following Hurricane Katrina.
He came up with the idea of building 26 playgrounds in honor of the students and teachers killed during the Sandy Hook shooting. Since then, those parents have paid it forward and contribute to building playgrounds in cities across the country, and one in Rwanda.
On April 21, South Lido Beach became home to one of these playgrounds in honor of Sarasota brothers Christopher and Jarrod Ditmars. Christopher Ditmars died in 2001 following a battle with Leukemia. Jarrod Ditmars died in 2015 following a spearfishing accident.
The playground was put together by volunteers on Wednesday, April 18 and Thursday, April 19 before being unveiled on April 21.
“It’s a dream come true,” Maribeth Ditmars, Jarrod and Christopher’s mother, said. “It’s like Sarasota and the whole world is giving us a hug.”
Before the ribbon was cut on the playground, Lavin and others spoke to the crowd. One speaker was Carlos Soto, whose daughter Victoria Soto died in the Sandy Hook shooting protecting her students. He told the crowd that for those that have angels, like his daughter and the Ditmars brothers, they are always near in heart.
“If we believe in our angels, they will move mountains for us,” he said.
The Ditmars had three choices when deciding where to put the playground, but South Lido Beach was the perfect spot to them. It was where they celebrated birthdays and cooked out on the weekends.
Now it’s a place of reflection but also a place where they can see children laugh and play.
“Every parent wants their child’s life to make a difference, and now ours has,” Maribeth Ditmars said.
