By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher Setbacks and frustrations don’t stop the folks at South Jersey Field of Dreams in Absecon. Their entire sports organization is built on the strength of kids who have to deal with setbacks and frustration as a daily way of life. So it comes as no surprise that the board of trustees acted swiftly to clean up the playground at the field today after an apparent case of vandalism either Monday or Tuesday morning left a slippery substance all over the equipment. John Glassey, who is one of the board members, said the substance appeared to be cooking oil and made the playground apparatus unsafe for children, so the league called in a professional clean-up crew from ServiceMaster to handle the situation before anyone was injured. “We jumped right on it because we were afraid people would get on the apparatus and get hurt. A lot of people use that playground for their kids, who aren’t related to the Field of Dreams, so we decided to jump on it so that nobody got hurt,” Glassey said. “We brought ServiceMaster in today and they powerwashed everything. It’s in pretty good shape. We were up there around 3 p.m. checking it out, plus some rain tonight will wash off any residue.” 
Joe Brown, one of the board of trustee members for South Jersey Field of Dreams, said the response from community members on social media with offers to help clean up the playground that was vandalized earlier this week has been inspiring. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) Glassey said at this point it isn’t clear who put the slippery substance on the playground equipment, but he said most likely it was either vandals or kids who enjoy skateboarding. “We can’t prove this at this point, but I have a suspicion it might be skateboarders. I have heard they put that on railings and things so that they can slide down them,” Glassey said. “I have no knowledge of that myself, but I’ve been told skateboarders or roller bladers might use it to go up and down the (rails) faster. But, that’s just speculation. The police are reviewing the tapes tonight because we do have surveillance cameras up.” The board of trustees asks that anyone with information about the vandalism call the Absecon Police Department at 609-641-0667. One good thing to come from this, Glassey said, is the overwhelming support and offers to help. The story spread like wildfire on social media, said Glassey and Joe Brown, another board member. “It flew out there. People were calling me and I said all I know is I got a phone call that there was a problem and I was going up to look at it. They were telling me, “oh, it’s all over Facebook.” That’s a good thing though,” Glassey said. “I wish we had more eyeballs up there watching things because this is the third time we’ve been hit by vandals in the last 11 years. How can people want to cause problems for kids who already have enough to deal with?” Glassey said there were dozens of offers from local citizens to assist with the cleanup, but the board thought it best to hire a professional clean-up company to avoid any potential injuries. “The amount of reaction that people have given us, and support, has been phenomenal but we didn’t want anybody to get hurt,” Glassey said. “We had a lot of people who said they would come over with a bucket and help us clean it.” Glassey said he expects the playground to be ready for use by Thursday, but that anyone who wants to enjoy it should use caution and make sure that the equipment is safe before use. The Field of Dreams games will be on as scheduled this Saturday afternoon. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter: @GDsullysays [adsense]
South Jersey Field of Dreams officials react swiftly to clean up vandalism at playground
