New energy abounds in Ken Garrett Park in Inverary

Catherine Reynolds | Jun 07, 2017

Judy Borovskis came alive after the removal of a brain tumour gave her a new perspective on life.

“When I woke-up from the surgery, I wanted to be a better person,” says the friendly 68-year-old about her life-saving operation six years ago. “I was sick for three years. I had so much pain in my body, life was almost impossible.”

After almost nine hours of surgery, her life returned to normal.

“Six days after surgery I was swimming in my pool. My kids were there with me because they thought I was going to drown,” she says with a chuckle.

Healthy and happy six years later, the mother of three and grandmother of seven has worked hard at her recovery.

“Your brain controls so much of how you feel and I have learned that you can grow and develop it, if you work at it,” she notes with a smile. “I have four screws holding me together, but I’m not a loose screw.”

Blessed with a new lease on life, Judy is determined to make the world a better place through one act of kindness at a time.

“When you feel good about life, you want to share that feeling and for me – I am one of the lucky ones and life is really, really good,” she says softly. “Every day is a gift, never to be taken for granted.”

“I want to do things and I really enjoy people,” she explains about her motivation to help a group of volunteers improve the playground at Ken Garrett Memorial Park, a popular baseball park and children’s play area in Inverary where she has lived for the past 17 years.

“We need something for the kids. We don’t have a school or community centre. Kids are riding their bikes on the streets. They need a fun, safe, play area.”

A volunteer with Inverary Youth Activities Inc., a non-profit group in charge of the park, Judy helped launch a campaign last year to replace outdated playground equipment. In less than one year, the group has raised more than $36,000.

“I think our achievement has been amazing!” she notes about the work by volunteers. “We raised $36,000 from August to March. I never would have thought we could accomplish so much in such a short amount of time. Dig’n Dirt made that first cut into the soil for us and our ideas became a reality.”

“It’s been a real learning experience. I’ve learned so much,” she adds, referring to the strict safety rules they had to follow to install the equipment. “We’ve been so fortunate with the guidance from everyone we’ve dealt with.”

Sitting at Judy’s kitchen table with the evening sun at her back, committee member Kim Popovich looks at her friend with pride.

“If it wasn’t for Judy’s energy to get us started, we wouldn’t have the money,” says Kim respectfully. “And we really needed a new playground. A few years ago, we weren’t sure if we would have enough money to make ends meet. Greg Howatson, our president at that time, helped to put us on a track to success. We’ve built on that and look at us now.”

Supported by Dig’N Dirt, Township of South Frontenac, Larry Gibson Foundation and many generous community minded companies and individuals, the playground is coming to life.

Painted in bright colours, a new play structure includes slides and climbing poles. It is surrounded by a cedar weave safety mulch which was also placed under a nearby rejuvenated swing-set.

“We spread the mulch ourselves to save money,” Judy says with a chuckle. “It came in a 53 ft trailer. It looked like mountain when the truck dumped it.”

Pleased with the results of the first leg of their campaign to improve the park, the committee is now looking at Phase 2. It has started with the re-surfacing of the basketball court.

They want to renovate the park washrooms, buy a fryer for the canteen and add park benches. They also want to install a shade structure, outdoor musical play equipment, adult fitness equipment and a walking path around the perimeter.

Although the amount of this work hasn’t been calculated, the women know it will be much higher than the first phase of the campaign to improve the community park.

“I think this is going to be a tough-one,” says Kim with a sigh. “That’s a tall order. It’s a lot of money.”

Responding with a smile, Judy notes, “This committee has lots of spirit and determination.”

“We’ve got a big picture here,” she says wisely. “We’re looking at building our park area for the future. Our community is aging. It would be perfect to have a safe and accessible walking path in the village. A well-developed green space area is something to bring people to this area.”

“The borders (between Inverary, Sunbury and Battersea) are fluid,” adds Kim, “We need to be supportive of each other, closer and stronger. This is something we can all share. We have an amazing community here.”

The community is invited to the park this Saturday (June 10) at 11:30 am to celebrate the completion of Phase 1 and launch Phase 2. To support this campaign to improve the park in Inverary, please contact Judy Borovskis at 613-353-1768 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.