A Short Walk in the Park

My uncle Frank Curre, Jr., and I met with some fine folks with the City of Waco who are in charge of the 100th Anniversary Celebration for Cameron Park that will be held in 2010. The park was started in 1910 when the William Cameron family donated acreage from their estate for the enjoyment of the people of the city of Waco. In 1914, my grandfather, John Wiliam Head, known as Billy Head, and his wife, my grandmother, Sally Lee Allen Head, moved to Waco with their family. Billy went to work for the City as a gardener for Cameron Park.  My daddy, Ralston Cecil Head, was born on St. Charles Street in East Waco in 1917. In 1921, the Head family moved to 2220 North 4th Street to be closer to the park. Billy Head retired from the City in 1957 as an assistant park superintendent after 42 years of service. I had brought some old photos of the park they had not seen before  (Many photos of Cameron Park and the Head family, taken in the 1940's and '50's by Marie Ellison Head, my mother, are in the Texas Collection, Baylor University), and they had some I had not seen. We had a great visit, then went to the park to look around. There were some cement railings that we tried to place but could not. I don't think they were there when I grew up, and Uncle Frank did not recognize them either. Frank was born in 1923 and grew up and ran in the park with my uncle Son (Duward Allen Head) and had plenty of park memories to tell. I was born in 1946 and grew up and ran in the park with my sister, Sue Ellen Head, born in 1948, and later my little brother, Charles Lee Head, born in 1958. We all know the park like the back of of our hands and have such wonderful memories of the park, especially since we lived right at the entrance at North 4th Street and Herring Avenue, and the old Head place was right next door at 2224 North 4th Street.  Frank, the city folk, and I went first to the Redwood Shelter...it was not there when I was growing up, but I remember picking up pecans by the sackful in the bottoms nearby. Frank said there had been tennis courts there when he was a kid, and you could still the cement slabs. We then went to Cold Springs, aka the Lion's Mouth or Proctor Springs, which has really deteriorated;  looked at my old home, 2220 North 4th Street;  looked at the old pavilion Cold Springs used to run under; and, finally, visited the old playground, with the recently uncovered steps and metal slides in the steep hillsides. Frank and I remembered the metal merry-go-round, the swings, and the cement big "steps", usually under water, that you stepped on when crossing Wilson Creek from Cold Springs into the playground, if you did not want to use the bridge by the pavilion.  The city folks have awesome plans and the funds to carry out those plans to refurbish the park. That made Frank and I extremely happy, as we love the park so much, as it was a big part of our growing up. Even though it was hot and very humid, it was an enjoyable short walk through the old park. I want to share more old photos and information with the City, and, hopefully, be part of the Cameron Park Celebration when it rolls around in a few short years.