LE GRAND — The weather couldn’t have been better for the celebration and ribbon cutting of the completed improvements to the Le Grand City Park at 204 N. Vine St. on Saturday.

The event, which began at 11 a.m. and concluded at dusk with an outdoor showing of the movie “Hocus Pocus” in the amphitheatre, included inflatables, food trucks (Dave’s Mini Donuts, Smokin’ G’s, Clare’s Tenderloins by Mya and Sno 2 Go), a mini golf course, live music from Le Grand Parks and Rec Committee Member Trevor Parrish, face painting, a pickleball tournament and a booth promoting the “Vote Yes” committee for upcoming East Marshall bond issue. But most of all, it was about the brand new park equipment that the committee, in partnership with the nonprofit organization Celebrate Le Grand, led a $240,000 fundraising effort that included commitments from both the city of Le Grand and Marshall County, a Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), the Assistance League of Marshalltown and a number of private contributions.

“It’s been really nice, especially to see the whole community come out. I’m really proud of this project and our group, and it’s been really fun to see the whole community and surrounding community members come out for this,” Parks and Rec Committee Member Luke Wilson said on Saturday.

So far, Wilson, a Le Grand native and East Marshall alum himself, said kids and parents have been highly impressed with the upgrades as they offer something for all ages along with the new pickleball courts for both children and adults. One of the goals with the improvements, according to Wilson, is to utilize the amphitheatre and community center for more public events going forward.

“The plan is to try to expand on events like this. It’s always been a dream to bring back a town celebration, and this would be a really neat project to pair with it,” he said.

Alex Ferneau, who serves as the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce’s Marshall County Economic Development Director and has three kids who will be attending East Marshall, is excited that the Chamber could play a role in helping the committee secure the CAT grant.

“It’s very rewarding, and it’s amazing to see the positivity in the community more than anything,” she said.

Le Grand Parks and Rec Committee President Brooke Parrish echoed Wilson’s comments and said residents are hoping to see more community events in a similar vein in the future.

“We’ve all been born and raised here. We’ve grown up going to the town celebrations and to the park, so it was really exciting to see not only people who live here in Le Grand, but like Luke said, surrounding communities coming out and being here, and wanting to have more things like this happen is exciting,” Parrish said.

The group also hopes that their effort, paired with initiatives like the East Marshall bond issue, can contribute to a rising sense of community pride for both longtime residents and new arrivals.