Castle Chandler

Article provided by By Ashleigh Oldland, Rocky Mountain News

Those who knew him remember Chandler Grafner as a little boy who liked to draw pictures of himself in castles. So when some Holm Elementary School community members wanted to build a memorial for Chandler, they decided to erect "Castle Chandler" in the kindergarten playground.

The plaque on the side of the structure display those words in loud yellow letters. The memorial is topped with a plastic flag imprinted with Chandler's last drawing, a picture of himself in his own imaginary Castle Chandler. Kids can climb up one wall and slide out another.

After Chandler's death, Joanne Trabert, secretary at Holm for the past 22 years, and others from the school who knew Chandler started a support group to cope with the tragedy.

The group worked with Mark Ashland, president of Children's Playstructures & Recreation in Centennial, to design the memorial. In May 2008, a year after Chandler's death, the group got together after school to help build the memorial themselves in order to cut costs.

"It just took a few hours after school one night," Trabert said. "Some of us hadn't even used tools like that before."

The school has been raising funds to cover the cost. They still need to raise $4,000.

Kelly Davis, of Centennial, recently made a donation.

"I actually checked out the playground with my 5-year-old son. He loved it - it's a great playground, and putting this together is an amazing effort," Davis said.

Davis believes the memorial will keep Chandler's memory alive and maintain awareness of how horrific child abuse can be.

The Rocky Mountain News reported last year that Chandler was buried without a headstone at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge. Since then, dozens of readers donated more than enough money for a stone to be be installed late next week.

Reader donations for the grave marker came to more than $4,000. The tombstone cost about $1,300. The remaining money will be given to the Tennyson Center for Children, a local charity that helps abused and neglected children.

CONGRATULATIONS ON PAYING FOR THE PLAYGROUND!

Thanks to all of your donations there was excess money and that is being used for the school library.

Please send all future donations to the Tennyson Center