08/27/2026
Meet Jenna McCann, the resident behind the new Arrowwood Park playground! 🛝
Jenna first moved to Shrewsbury in 2021, with the COVID-19 pandemic still in swing. With very few places to go as a family, the Arrowwood Park playground just down the street from their new home became an essential neighborhood space for them. However, with time, pieces of equipment had to be removed from the playground for safety due to their age and wear. Wanting a safe and welcoming place where children from across the neighborhood could play and families could come together, Jenna got to work turning that dream into a reality.
The journey started in 2023 when Jenna attended the first Community Preservation Committee (CPC) meeting at the library, where she pitched the idea for a playground replacement at Arrowwood Park. Working with Town staff including Keith Baldinger, Kevin Esposito, and Rowen McAllister, alongside construction partner Robert DiVerdi Jr., she met with various stakeholders to communicate the vision for the playground and its importance to the community. Over the next two years, Jenna attended numerous meetings to advocate for the playground and build the final application that would be presented to Town Meeting for a vote.
When it all finally came to the Town Meeting vote in 2025, she held her breath, waiting to see if her years of meetings, applications, assessments, emails, phone calls, and more would come to fruition. The standing vote happened, the votes were counted, and – much to Jenna’s excitement – the vote was a Yes!
Working with Mariana, the architect for the project, she finally got to see the vision for the playground come to life over the next few months, a feeling she described as “truly amazing”. Now, a little over a year after that vote, Arrowwood’s playground is complete and opento the public. Her kids are excited to ride their bikes down to the park and make use of all it has to offer, from the swings to the slides.
Jenna’s story is a fantastic example of how any Shrewsbury resident can make a difference in their neighborhood through the Community Preservation Committee. “Anyone can do it,” Jenna said. “Be consistent, be patient, and be willing to put in the time and effort. Keep asking questions, keep showing up, and always ask, ‘What can I do to help make this happen?’”
Great community projects take a village, and Jenna emphasized that this project wouldn't have been possible without the constant backing of her husband Harrison McCann, Patricia Doyle, Kathy Belanger, Diann Dibenedetto, Jayne Senecal, the Falandys family, and the DiVerdi family.
Many thanks to Jenna for her tireless advocacy and hard work in making this vision for a new playground at Arrowwood Park come to life! 🛝
Interested in bringing a project to your neighborhood? Learn more about the CPC application process at: https://shrewsburyma.gov/1001/Community-Preservation-Committee
