Volunteers gather in Grover Beach to paint Mentone Basin Park fence

A rusting fence surrounding a park in Grover Beach hadn’t been fully painted since 1985. On Saturday, community members volunteered to help change that.

The City of Grover Beach and the city’s Rotary Club organized a fence-painting event at Mentone Basin Park from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. About 40 community members volunteered, including families, city staff and members from four local Rotary clubs.

Grover Beach Mayor Jeff Lee said the Rotary Club approached the city about putting together a community service project. Grover Beach Rotary Club President Bob Perrault called it “the first major project” they’ve held in the community since the pandemic halted events.

“Community service is about families, and it really is an opportunity for the community to get back together,” Lee said. “So with that, we can be outside and we can enjoy each other. And hopefully, the younger generation can see the service that the older generation does and just kind of continue that work forever.”

Grover Beach resident Hillary Chargualaf, who lives next to the park, volunteered with her mother, grandmother and her two kids, Ellie and Troy.

“This is our park right here — we bring our dogs down here, we throw the ball and stuff,” Chargualaf said. “So it’s good for the kids to get out in the community, you know what I mean? Give them something to do.”

Grover Beach Rotary provided a hot dog barbecue lunch for the volunteers after the painting.

“That might be what’s enticing us,” Chargualaf said.

Rotary Club Service Director Juan Carlos Herrera said they used 10 gallons of anti-rust paint on Saturday, with all supplies paid for by the city.

Parks and Recreation Director Kathy Petker told the Tribune the goal was to paint at least half of the fence on Saturday, but the work will take another day to complete.

“The fence really needed some love and some paint,” Petker said. “The whole idea was to bring people together, safely outside, to be productive and complete a park project that was absolutely beautiful and beautifying the neighborhood. And people are in great spirits.”

Perrault said the club is always looking for new members. It meets every other Wednesday at noon at Mason Bar & Kitchen.

“We’re a small Rotarian club. We’re only 18 members ourselves,” Perrault said. “It’s quite an undertaking for us.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2022 at 1:48 PM.