Building Homes, Communities, Hope, and ...Checkerboards?

Checkerboard under construction in our basement.

​You can easily #DIY your own checkerboard table! To build the tabletop, we used UrbanWood (available at our ReStore). The surface should be no smaller than 2‘ x 2’. The checkerboard grid is formed by 2” squares burned into the wood, forming an 8x8 grid of alternating colors. This could easily be painted onto the tabletop, as well. For playing pieces, we used wood salvaged from the Flint River. During a neighborhood cleanup, look for a small branch about 1-1.5” in diameter. Make cuts through the wood about ¼” apart to form twenty-four discs to use for playing pieces. Store leftover wood in a dry place to easily replace any lost discs, as needed. We then dipped twelve of the playing pieces in dark walnut wood stain to create a darker color; the rest were left natural. You could also use paint of any color to distinguish between the two players. Once dried, the playing pieces were placed in a small burlap sack and attached to the table.
 
We hope that you, just like those living in the Foss Neighborhood, will be able to connect with neighbors of all ages and get to know one another over a friendly game of checkers!

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Checkerboards in action at the Foss Avenue Nature Area and Community Pavilion on Carpenter Rd.!