FARMINGTON — The many hands of volunteers made light work of construction of a tricycle path for youngsters at the Swett-Winter Early Care and Education Center Saturday.

The center on the University of Maine at Farmington campus offers three programs serving children from age 2 1/2 to 8, Edna Montague, program director, said as she stopped working to explain the effort being undertaken.

Riding a tricycle on grass can be a bit daunting, leaving the youngster feeling frustrated and ready to stop riding, she said. That was part of the reason parents, staff, UMF students and community members came together to create the small circular path around the wooden swingset on the children’s playground, located on the north side of the Ricker Addition.

The trike path was also a part of the center’s accreditation, a long process needed to rank the center as being of the highest quality, she said.

From cutting sod to transferring crushed stone by wheelbarrow from the center front to the playground, the all-volunteer crew joyfully worked together while several youngsters not only used the swings but the large pile of stone for play.

The costs for construction were minimal, as Farmington construction company E.L. Vining & Son donated the crushed stone, another parent paid for rental of the compactor to pack it down into a hard surface and Dexter Supply gave a reduced rate on the filter cloth that went under the stone, Montague said.

“There’s been a lot of support for the project,” she added.

After working at the center last year during a practicum, Daniel Winter, now a junior at UMF, came back to help the kids whom he still sees on campus.

Other students now involved in the center shoveled and toted the heavy, loaded wheelbarrows because they also wanted to help out, Janelle Thuotte, a sophomore, said.

For 30 years, the center has provided full-time care and education to children in Franklin County while offering university students the opportunity to learn from classroom experiences. Students complete course assignments and university-led research projects at the center.

Open from 7 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., the center provides full-time care, before- and after-school care for children in kindergarten through grade two and a half-day preschool program, all offered on a variable-fee scale, Montague said.

There are some openings still available in the after-school program and half-day program, she added. There is a waiting list for full-time care.

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