No one can forget the day their child was born, and one of the first things new parents adore are their newborn's tiny hands and feet. As they grow, those feet sometimes become monsterous and we can't believe they were ever so tiny. That is why handprints and footprints are so precious.

When the first families moved into Hamilton they saw a need for a children's play park and started a tile project to raise money. Each donation allowed families to create a tile for permanent display at a play park near the Southgate community.

Looking at the tiles today, we think of what hopes and dreams the new Hamilton families had as they moved into a newly built community and then pitched in to create the Palmisano Community Play Park in the spring and summer of 2000.

Where are these children and their families now?

The play park has had several names over the years. The first was the Hamilton Airport Park, then the South Hamilton Park and now the Palmisano Community Play Park.

Why Palmisano?

Peter Palmisano was the real estate developer who worked for years to transform the Hamilton military base into one of Marin's largest building projects, now the Hamilton community. Palmisano envisioned a small town where neighbors are engaged in the community where they "live, work, play and belong."

The play park is still looked upon as one of the most successful projects of the Hamilton volunteers and momentum from that effort resulted in formation of a community foundation that holds the annual Hamilton Hometown Festival.

The tiny handprints started it all and remind residents of what was accomplished during that exciting time of community building.