Photo: Members of the team that built a gazebo at a park in Boonville, Mo., gather for a class photo in front of Nelson Memorial UMC.

BOONVILLE, Mo. --Eight inmates from the Boonville Correctional Center worked with men from Nelson Memorial UMC and the Central Methodist University baseball team during the week of Sept. 12th to build a gazebo at the Boonville Rolling Hills Park.

The team also stained a hospital gazebo they built last year and refurbished a YMCA ramp they built in 2003.

In 2006, men from the correctional center and the church built a bathroom at the New Franklin City Park, and in 2005, they built a retaining wall around the prehistoric Indian mound at Harley Park.

Church members provided daily breakfasts for the team followed by devotions. At noon, the men ate lunch at area churches in the hope they would make one of them their church home upon their release.

Inmates received certificates of appreciation during a Sept. 18 dedication service at Nelson Memorial UMC. Dan Hanneken, a staff member of the Missouri Department of Corrections, presented the annual "Challenge to the Class." The service was followed by a dinner with members of the congregation.