Kids & Family
Concord Moms To Ride in Rose Bowl Parade Float
A playground cleanup turned out to be one of the brightest and saddest days of their lives.
It was the one of the highest highs and the lowest lows of the couple’s life. It started like an ordinary day.
Liz Lamach and René Henderson emerged from their home in Concord, California on Saturday to go to a work party.
“I thought we were going to clean the park up and make it look better,” Lamach said.
“Just a work party.”
Little did they know that the Concord Lions Club would surprise them with a send off party and two seats on a Rose Bowl Parade float.
Lions Clubmembers had planned to revitalize the park with some routine maintenance and a new coat of paint. Many of the people there were the friends who had helped her turn the idea for this all-inclusive park into a reality in 2007. The park took almost seven years, 1,500 volunteers, and about $750,000 to build it. While it’s just a playground, the reach and the depth of this park has gone beyond anything they expected or could have anticipated.
“It certainly allows Matteo’s memory to stay alive in all of our hearts,” Lamach told Patch. “Not that it would have ever left mine. But now the world is going is going to see it.
During the 125th annual Rose Bowl Parade, the couple will ride a float that is in the shape of the park inspired by their son, Matteo. The theme of next year’s parade is “Follow Your Dreams.”
They found out in March.
“A good friend of mine, called me… Bill Riedel from the build,” Lamach said. He called and said, “Make sure you’re sitting down.”
“I said, ‘Come on Bill. What’s going on.’”
“He told me… and I just sat there and cried.”
Her son Matteo passed away in 2010. But the playground he dreamed about continues to bring smiles to children’s faces. It has a unique rubberized terrain that allows children in wheelchairs to access the play structures without getting out of their chairs. It took an extra year and $250,000 to put that rubber under the swings. It was one of the first public playgrounds in the San Francisco Bay Area to have this feature. Now, many companies offer it.
“This is incredible…,” she said, pausing to hold onto her tears. “And our son’s not here to enjoy it. It’s the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows,” Lamach said.
She said that she feels very blessed to have had him in her life, even though he passed away too young. She said she wanted to thank Lions Clubmembers for helping her and for the send off.
“René and I will be on that float representing our son Matteo and we couldn’t be any prouder,” she said.
Assemblywoman Susan A. Bonilla (D-Concord) will honor the couple and the fundraisers who made this playground possible during a ceremony that starts at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday at 2050 Olivera Road in Concord, California.
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