Playground that pays tribute to outdoors-loving child to be open by fall

Editor's note: The following story has been edited to change a word to reflect the correct terminology for Levi Collom's cause of death. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

When 3-year-old Levi Collom died unexpectedly in March 2012, his family channeled their grief into creating a new play area as a tribute to him at Cape Girardeau County Park South.

Levi’s Adventure Trail is under construction and should be open in September or October, said Ellie Collom, Levi’s mother.

The play area, visible from North Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau, will have several sections and should accommodate about 100 children at once, she said.

Ellie Collom’s mother, Viney Mosley, runs the not-for-profit organization Levi’s Children’s Charities, in addition to helping plan Levi’s Adventure Trail.

Darin Kleine of Playgrounds Unlimited works on installing a zipline at Levi's Adventure Trail at Cape Girardeau County Park South.Laura Simon

She said the play area’s design grew out of Levi’s love of the Current River in Van Buren, Missouri.

Collom agreed and said, “The reason we’re doing this outdoor exhibit, Levi loved to play in sand and water, with rocks, in leaves.”

Collom said the playground equipment should be installed this week.

On Friday, huge, concrete rocks will be brought in from California “for the adventure part of the trail,” she said.

A three-story climbing structure with a clubhouse at the bottom, a concrete tepee, canoe and zipline will be installed.

A sand and water area also is planned, with a station to clean hands and feet, Collom said.

“We tried to look at what parks in Cape didn’t have, and what parks in bigger cities like St. Louis did have,” Collom said.

Mosley said she and Collom have worked with Brad Hutchinson from Hutchinson Recreation to design the playground, beginning about two months after Levi’s death in March 2012 from sudden unexpected death in childhood, also known as SUDC.

A support organization at sudc.org helps parents who struggle with having lost a child that way, Collom said.

It’s estimated one in 100,000 children in the United States die from SUDC each year, Collom said, but the number could be higher, because medical examiners only recently have been given a code for it.

Levi’s death certificate listed the cause of death as “complication from febrile seizure,” but no seizure was observed, Collom said.

Ellie Collom and her husband, Glenn, live in Benton, Missouri, with their two children, Victoria, 15, and River, 3.

They originally are from Sikeston, Missouri, and have received generous donations from people there, Collom said.

Donations came in from all over the country.

When donations and commitments reached a certain point, Mosley said she didn’t know what to do.

“I kept thinking, ‘God, we need somebody to take this from here,’” she said. “I’m not a contractor; we can’t maintain it; this project just won’t work. It’s too much.”

Mosley said she opened a book and a prayer fell out, one written by her husband, Steve’s, mother, Jean Bell Mosley, a prolific writer who had written a column for the Southeast Missourian, a book about her life and other works.

“It was about patience,” Mosley said, “and that God would answer your prayers, but you have to be patient.”

Soon after, Mosley said, she received a phone call from Bryan Sander, park superintendent for Cape Girardeau County, asking whether Levi’s Adventure Trail could be built in Cape Girardeau County Park South.

“I’d never thought of that,” she said. “If I had approached them five years ago, it might not have worked. It had to be the right time.”

Mosley said it’s “unreal”

the play area finally is happening.

“It’s like a dream,” she said.

“At times, the process was very difficult,” Mosley said. “We just stayed diligent and persisted.”

Mosley said countless volunteers and donors have worked hard in the last five years. It seemed every time there was a need, the right person to fill that need would come along quickly.

One of those people, Darren Burgfeld of Element 74 in Cape Girardeau, came on board when his wife, Carrie, suggested making their son Lawson’s first birthday party an opportunity to donate to Levi’s Adventure Trail.

Once that donation was made, Burgfeld said, he offered to help if they needed it.

They asked whether he knew how to build websites.

Burgfeld said Levi’s story meant a lot to him because his daughter is close to the same age as Levi.

“I can’t really imagine being in the role Ellie and Glenn were in,” Burgfeld said of Levi’s parents.

The website is important to the project, Burgfeld said, because there hasn’t been a lot of direct campaigning for donations.

“It’s been a lot of word of mouth,” he said.

The playground itself has seen a lot of changes, Burgfeld said, describing it as “a culmination of all the little pieces of the vision coming along the whole while.”

He added, “I think we got it right. It’ll be pretty awesome.”

Mosley said she also has looked toward building a support network of volunteers, donors, businesses and organizations.

The Gamma Sigma Sigma service sorority at Southeast Missouri State University has been a tremendous help with recordkeeping, reporting and keeping track of everything that goes into running a not-for-profit organization, Mosley said.

Sorority members also have been instrumental in planning the annual Celebration of Life held in Levi’s honor each September, close to his birthday, Mosley said.

“It takes a lot to get ready for a celebration like that,” Mosley said.

Mosley said she hopes the playground will be meaningful and fun.

“This playground will be a wonderful representation of the love of the people in these communities in Southeast Missouri — not just of our family’s effort, but the love and support of communities here. All can come and play,” she said.

For his part, River Collom asks every day whether the playground’s ready yet, Ellie Collom said.

“River loves it,” she said. “It’s been a lot to deal with, but we are definitely glad to have it.”

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address: 2400 County Park Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.