For years, the park on Wedgewood Road sat largely unused.

But today, there isn’t a nice day that goes by when the park isn’t busy with the activity of children.

That’s thanks to the efforts of one local girl. In the summer of 2000, Lilia Walther decided to see what she could do to get new play equipment in the park. She secured $12,000 to achieve her goal. She petitioned neighbors, collected pop cans to redeem for cash and gained the support of a city councilor to replace the aging equipment.

And now Lilia, 12, a sixth-grader at Sibley Elementary, has been named a Disney Adventures All-Star for her plan to help improve the park. The Disney Adventures All-Star program is a national effort to encourage youth volunteerism. It was initiated by Disney Adventures magazine with the help of the Disney Channel, Radio Disney and DisneyHand, the worldwide outreach program for The Walt Disney Company.

&uot;The Disney Adventures All-Stars program is a perfect way to motivate kids and show them the hands-on rewards of helping others,&uot; Suzanne Harper, editor-in-chief of Disney Adventures said in a press release. &uot;Our magazine is designed to entertain and inspire our readers as they grow up. We hope that this program will encourage them to help others and become more involved with their communities.&uot;

Lilia heard about the contest last summer while watching television, she said. She saw a commercial for it during the &uot;Lizzie McGuire&uot; program and thought perhaps her playground project fit the bill.

&uot;I believe my project is special and different because I did it myself, but with the help of my brother,&uot; Lilia wrote in her entry essay. &uot;I’m only a kid and some kids think they can’t make a difference, but they can make a big difference.&uot;

Lilia won a trip for her family to California. This summer she’ll meet and participate in a volunteer project with cast members of &uot;Lizzie McGuire.&uot; She and her project will also be featured in the May 2003 issue of Disney Adventures, on newsstands April 29.

In addition, Lilia received $1,000 for the organization of her choice. She chose the Albert Lea Public Library’s Children’s Room as her charity.

&uot;I come here all the time,&uot; she said of choosing the library. &uot;Everyone seems to come here.&uot;

Staci Waltman, children’s librarian, said the library staff is grateful, and most likely will use the money for next year’s summer reading program.

Lilia said she’s happy with the way the park turned out. She and her brother, Nicholas, 8, are there every day. She said she’s now collecting pop cans to help fund a basketball court there.

Lilia’s parents, Richard and Lori Walther of Albert Lea, couldn’t be more proud. &uot;We’re very proud of both of them,&uot; Richard Walther said. &uot;We have two outstanding young children.&uot;

Lori Walther is happy the park is being enjoyed. &uot;The kids are just coming out of the woodwork to play there. It’s a great meeting place for kids after school,&uot; she said.

The Disney Adventures All-Stars program, introduced in May 2002, was open to anyone age 6 to 14 who volunteered by either joining an existing organization or inventing his or her own project. Participants could enter in one of two categories: Kid All-Star for individual volunteers, and Team All-Star, for groups of two to six people who completed a project together.

The Disney Adventures All-Stars program is part of Disney’s ongoing commitment to volunteerism and community outreach. Details about the program’s second year will be announced in the May 2003 issue of the magazine.

Disney Adventures provided a plan of action for the participants, including suggestions for how to get started, possible projects to complete or organizations to work with, and a step-by-step six-month calendar. The Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network facilitated the judging process and monitored the validity of the finalists’ projects. Winners were chosen from both categories based on an essay describing the problem they tried to solve, what activity they became involved with, and their definition of volunteerism.