The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Park enlivens in sports, spiffs
Groups, city leaders clean, paint and play together at Oakwood Park work days
Oakwood Park again became a hub of activity Sept. 19 with community cleanups and sports.
The park in South Lorain had work days hosted by Lorain Ward 6 Councilman Rey Carrion at the Oakwood Park Pool and Councilman-at-Large Mitch Fallis with the Friends of Oakwood Park.
There was youth football with the Lorain County Warriors Youth Football and Cheer, and softball playing with various teams, including Lorain police and firefighters in their annual charity softball game.
“We’re going to see this park shine today,” Carrion said.
On Aug. 22, a shooting at the park later claimed the life of 14-year-old Denzyl “Zell” Williams.
Improving South Lorain’s green space began before that tragic event. But since then, Carrion and other city leaders and residents have met to discuss a new youth action plan to support young Lorainites, along with upgrades at the park.
“We’re going to see this park shine today.” — Lorain Ward 6 Councilman Rey Carrion
“This is what we’re trying to tell the community: We’ve got to believe in the power of unity,” Carrion said.
The day started with Carrion’s group of volunteers applying a fresh coat of brown paint to the wood and metal trim of the Oakwood Park Pool building.
“We’re here again as part of that mission to keep working together and bringing the community together for that grassroots effort,” Carrion said.
The improvement projects have had a rotating cast of helpers with new people showing up every time, Carrion said.
Diona Noriega and her father, Oscar Garcia, are California natives who have lived in Lorain for several years.
On Sept. 16, they came out to the community meeting for a youth action plan and followed up with paint brushes two days later.
The pool prompted memories for Adam Burgos, a South Lorain native who said it could again become a place to bring his 8-yearold daughters.
Burgos was a 1983 city diving champ out of the
Oakwood Park Pool. “When it came to diving, nobody could do the flippy-flippy like we could,” he said.
His first job out of high school was working as a lifeguard — at the Longfellow Park Pool, so he wouldn’t have to tell his friends what to do.
“Rey’s brought a lot of life back to South Lorain,” said Mario Martinez, 70, who visited with the painters.
They were joined by Michelle Cali of Rocky River and Jake Brown of Huron. They work with Boy Scouts of America and are developing a troop at Lorain Schools’ Stevan Dohanos Elementary.
Calvondo T. Smith, cofounder of the Lorain County Warriors, picked up a brush with Lisa Pagan, Carrion’s cousin, who also had childhood memories of swimming there. Volunteer Adam Lopez, who is moving to Lorain from Elyria in October, worked on the roof.
Meanwhile, members of the Lorain Lions Club, Church on the North Coast and local residents turned out to paint the base of the Oakwood Park gazebo, Fallis said.
They also painted tops of 16 picnic tables and about 10 of the rocks in the park, he said.
The city of Lorain Public Property Department supplied the paint. Fallis credited the work of Eddie Mendez, owner of Wash Away Power Wash, for cleaning the surfaces a week earlier to prepare for fresh paint.
It was the first time the group made it to Oakwood Park this year, but the fourth year in a row that the volunteers returned to the spot.
“It was very nice to be able to make improvements for the park and get a group of volunteers to work together and beautify the park for the community at large,” Fallis said.
It has taken time, but Fallis said residents are seeing the fruits of the labor of people involved in improving the park.
“When it came to diving, nobody could do the flippy-flippy like we could.”
— Adam Burgos, 1983 city diving champ