Dedication at Dr. Roscoe Smith Park

Pictured: New entrance sign at Dr. Roscoe Smith Park

A beautiful day for a beautiful moment occurred on Saturday, October 17th, as a crowd gathered at Dr. Roscoe Smith Park for the official dedication of the park’s new sign. Ninety-two-year old Dr. Roscoe Smith, a Hope native, came from Dallas, along with several family members, to see the unveiling of the new sign. After an opening prayer from Pastor James Lister, Hope Mayor Don Still shared a few comments on the recent addition of a splash pad in the park, paid for by the one-cent sales tax voted on by city residents. The new park sign, recently erected by the City of Hope, was unveiled as Dr. Smith looked on. Following the ceremony, the crowd came by one-by-one to shake his hand and to congratulate him.

The park on the north side of town was renamed to honor Dr. Roscoe Smith earlier this year. In the past, the city has been very cautious about renaming things, so how did we get to the point of renaming this park? To start, we sat down with City Manager J.R. Wilson, to see the city’s point of view of the renaming. Residents living in the neighborhood near the park approached the Hope City Board about renaming the park in honor of Dr. Roscoe Smith. They were put on the agenda at a board meeting, and eventually the group presented a petition with hundreds of names of local residents in support of the change. Mr. Wilson mentioned that he is proud that a group of local residents, who had something on their hearts, were able to go to the city board with their request, and that the process was successful.

After learning about the process of the change, we wanted to know about the man who’s name is now on the park, Dr. Roscoe Smith, and why he was chosen to be honored. For this, we turned to Ms. Jo Ann Spellman Johnson, a longtime resident of Hope. She informed us that in 1958, Mr. Smith was hired as the activities director at the then called Northside Park. Ms. Johnson also told us that Mr. Smith had a “burning passion” for education and working with children. He worked with young people, notably getting them involved with baseball teams, for boys and for girls. His activities drew children not just from Hope, but from other places such as Saratoga and McNabb. She said that ever since she was a child, and thereafter, there has never been one as amazing at working with the young people of Hope as Dr. Roscoe. That is why he deserves this honor.

For the rest of us in Hope, and everyone else for that matter, we should take it up for ourselves to be more like Dr. Smith. To support and to care for those around us, because you never know what people are going through. We congratulate Dr. Roscoe Smith for Saturday, and we thank him for what he has done for the Hope community!