When Woody Hanson approached his Chapel Valley neighborhood homeowner's association with the offer to donate funds for new playground equipment, the association had a better idea.

They told him to just buy the equipment and put it up, Hanson recalls with a smile.

And that's just what he did.

With the help of his neighbors, the retired trucking industry worker bought and installed a new multipurpose toy for the neighborhood playground on Chapel Lane in Rapid City.

The idea to clean up and improve the playground came from a discussion several months ago with a woman in the neighborhood, Hanson said.

"My neighbor said, 'We don't have a lot of playground equipment,'" Hanson said, and he thought maybe he could do something about it.

Hanson decided to donate the equipment in memory of his wife, Candy Hanson, who died in 2005. She loved to go to the playground with the couple's granddaughters when they visited from Texas, Hanson said.

"She just loved kids," he said. "I thought it was a fitting tribute to donate the playground in memory of her."

Hanson spent about $1,500 on the wooden structure that holds swings, two towers with a connecting tunnel, a slide and a climbing wall. Homeowner's association president Fred Hatzenbuhler and other neighbors helped Hanson assemble and install the equipment over about three days.

"It was a little bit tough. Fortunately, we had a couple ladies who could read," Hanson said with a laugh. "Guys don't need instructions."

The new equipment has been a hit with the neighborhood kids so far. Cindy Wilson, who runs a small day care in the neighborhood, was playing with children from the day care on the new swings Tuesday morning.

"It's about time," Wilson said of the new equipment. She said her biggest concern was that the homeowner's association would install something that would be durable and safe, which the new equipment is.

"If the kids are happy, the parents are happy," she said as she pushed her granddaughter in a bright yellow swing.

And the kids are definitely happy.

The four children gave enthusiastic shouts to being asked if they like the new playground equipment. Four-year-old Irelyn Spencer, Wilson's granddaughter, said her favorite part is the swing set.

"It's just cool that we all pulled together," Wilson said.

She said with the new toys, she brings the day care kids to the area more than she did before.

Next month, Hanson hopes to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the playground, where he will install a memorial plaque for his wife, and his two granddaughters will be visiting from Texas.