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The ADVANCE, June 21, 2023/Page 2A
Stye Aiiuance
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done here. I am happy and
thankful to know they’re
looking down - John
Moore Sr. and Lynn Mitch
ell - on what we are going
to get accomplished here,”
Mayor Willis NeSmith Jr.
remarked.
The park was formerly
known as Hallmark Park
before being renamed al
most 15 years ago to honor
longtime Lyons Recreation
Department Volunteer
Coach Vincent Faison Sr.
It holds a lot of history and
memories, according to the
public.
“Right over there was a
football field,” Mayor Wil
lis NeSmith Jr. explained.
“I can remember Mr. Ben
[Mitchell] telling me about
it. It was Lyons Industrial
School over there, and
Mr. Ben played football
over there. What he told
me was that Mel Blount
played football over there.
That is a Professional Foot
ball Hall of Famer that we
had grow up here, and he
played football right over
there on that field. There is
a lot of history here and a
lot of memories.”
State Senator Blake
Tillery reminisced, “I got
to play baseball on this
field. When Partin Park
would be filled, we would
come over here and play
our games. Hopefully, in
30 years, when someone
is standing up here again
talking about their oppor
tunity to play on this field,
the community will be in
a place to once again in
vest and continue to make
things here in Toombs
County better.”
“In 1988, the pinnacle
of being a young boy play
ing in the Lyons Recreation
Department was not Par-
tin Park. The pinnacle was
coming to Hallmark Park,
playing for a Kevin Hill All
Star [Baseball] Team, and
muscling up to get the ball
over that fence,” Council
man John Moore Jr. added.
“I reached my pinnacle. I
played for a Kevin Hill All
Star team, [and in a game
against] Reidsville in 1989,
it went over that left field
fence. I could tell you story
after story about the vision
that’s been here. This is
home to me.”
Moore continued,
“The drive to bring this
part of the Recreation
Department back where
Shooter
continued from page 1A
vac landed and attempted
to transport the patient to
Savannah. Due to compli
cations, the individual was
transported by ambulance
to Memorial Health Mead
ows Hospital, where he was
stabilized then transferred
by AirEvac to Memorial
Health University Medical
Center where he later suc
cumbed to his injuries.
The shooter, whom
law enforcement has not
yet identified, alleged that
he acted in self defense fol
lowing a confrontation. No
charges have been filed at
this time.
Agents and Investiga
tors are interviewing wit
nesses and will continue to
work with the Oconee Cir
cuit District Attorney’s Of
fice to determine if charges
will be filed. At the conclu
sion of the investigation,
the complete case file will
be provided to the Oconee
Circuit District Attorney’s
Office for review.
Anyone with informa
tion regarding this investi-
Photo by Alysa Marsicano
CHECK PRESENTATION - Members of the Faison family and local government leaders were presented with a check
by members of the Heart of Georgia Altamaha Regional Commission. L to R: Toni Faison and Grandchildren, State
Representative Leesa Hagan, Councilman Tracy Johnson, Quincy Mitchell, Councilwoman Cathy Benton, Council
man John Moore Jr., Mayor Willis NeSmith Jr., Rich Bennett, City Manager Jason Hall, Brett Manning.
it needs to be, back to the
community, has been a vi
sion for several years since
Daddy and others. There
are a lot of memories here,
and that’s what you want.
That’s what we thrive for
and push for. Thanks to
Governor Kemp, Senator
Tillery, and Representa
tive Hagan, that dream is
coming back. When that
last brick is laid, when that
little bit of asphalt is put
down, that vision will be
completed. That’s what it’s
all about. A community as
strong as ours works to
gether.”
Most of the improve
ments are focused on the
increasing community
involvement at the park.
“What we are going to do
here is widespread: a new
basketball court, pickleball
courts, soccer fields, com
munity center, pavilion,
bathrooms, many things
we are planning on doing
here. It will be great to see;
I don’t know how long it’s
going to take - hopefully, it
will only take a year or two
- but we are excited about
what is coming down,” Ne
Smith explained.
He said that State Rep
resentative Leesa Hagan
and State Senator Blake
Tillery were “instrumen
tal” in attaining the grant.
Councilwoman Cathy
Benton echoed these sen
timents, as she said, “I’d
like to thank Senator Blake
Tillery and Representative
Leesa Hagan for being an
advocate on behalf of our
city and for the job that
they do to make sure we
receive what we are asking
for.”
gation is asked to contact
the GBI regional investiga
tive office in Eastman at
478-374-6988 or the Mont
gomery County Sheriff’s
Office 912-583-2321.
Both Tillery and
Hagan were in attendance
at the celebration and
spoke on the occasion.
“Community is so impor
tant, and Faison Park is at
the center of it for so many
residents here in Lyons, so
I’m very excited to see how
it’s going to change and in
crease the activity level in
town,” Hagan remarked.
“Thank you to Mayor Ne
Smith, City Council, [City
Manager] Jason [Hall],
[and] everyone down at
City Hall who put the work
in to apply for this grant.
Grant applications are hard
work. Congratulations on
getting this grant!”
Tillery added, “This is
a really exciting day. It’s an
honor to be here. There is a
lot of people who deserve
a lot of credit, and I am one
who does not deserve the
credit on this one. Those
[who deserve the credit
are] Rick [Bennett] and
Brett [Manning] from the
[Heart of Georgia] Re
gional Commission who
wrote the grant, [and] City
Council who had the fore
sight to realize they have
to match this grant - they
have to have the funding to
put forth to maintain the
park. The state will come
in here one time, but we
have to make sure it can
be sustained because if we
are going to go and paint a
building, we want to make
sure that building doesn’t
fall down the next year.
So, that’s where you guys
come in - community sup
port has to be there for this
place to be maintained and
sustained. “
“I’ve said it before: the
state is really good at stack
ing bricks together - build
ing parks and places - but
we are not as good at mak
ing sure that those facilities
carry on the mission after
wards,” he continued.
Tillery also thanked
Governor Kemp and Geor
gia Grants Division Direc
tor Jen Wadefor their help
bringing such a large grant
to the small community.
“The Mayor said earlier that
this grant is $2.2 million -1
just want to make sure you
understand the size of that
grant. The general revenue
budget for the city of Ly
ons is roughly $4.5 million.
So, you’re talking about an
investment that is roughly
50% of the entire general
revenue estimate of Lyons
in a community park in
one year. That is huge,” he
emphasized.
Members of the Fai
son family were also in
attendance at the event,
and Faison’s first cousin
Theron Faison addressed
the crowd on his grati
tude for the kindness that
they’ve shown his family.
“This is a great day. We re
alize that we need to give
thanks to individuals on
the state level, as well as the
City and County level for
everything that they have
brought forth before us on
today,” he said.
Faison informed the
audience that the fam
ily had moved to the area
many years ago from Clin
ton, North Carolina. “I
wish our patriarchs could
be here today just to see
what Vincent has done
not just for the family, but
also for the community,”
he reflected. “As I sit back
and think of Vincent, so
many times, I think about
how well he did in sports.
I think he was one of the
better athletes that there
was in the family because
he played multiple sports.”
He concluded, “God
has really blessed us and
we appreciate it. We have
been brought up in a very
nice community - a good
community. We used to
come down here to these
basketball courts during
our younger years and
played a whole lot of ball.
We even played with the
Peoples Bank softball team
here. But the thing about
it was the people who we
grew up around have made
us very proud on today by
being here and establishing
everything you all have es
tablished for Vincent.”
Commissioner Alfred
Cason also addressed the
audience and the Faison
family, as he brought his
sister-in-law Toni Faison
along with him to address
the crowd. “This is Vin
cent’s wife,” he said. “Vin
cent’s wife was very close
to my family. I remember
at the Vincent’s funeral,
Coach [Anson] Calloway
named this park Vincent
Faison Sr. Park. Everybody
agreed, and my heart liked
to jump out my frame - I
was so grateful. And I was
so grateful of Ben [Mitch
ell] and all of you who
was on City Council that
agreed to that.”
“This County has done
marvelous things for us
- for all of us. Lets treat it
with some care. Let’s treat
it like it may be the last
time [we receive a grant
like this],” he shared.
Ben Mitchell’s son
Quincy Mitchell also ad
dressed the crowd. “Man,
this is such a great honor
for the City and a great
honor for my dad. Thank
you to the Faison family
for sharing this honor with
us, and allowing the street
to be named after my dad,”
he said. “This was a dream
of his for a long time to get
this park rebuilt and thriv
ing the way it was when we
were growing up. My par-
Please see Faison page
3A
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