42 Years Ago
The October 27, 1983 Golden Transcript included an article by Dr. Ruth Maurer, who was the Mayor at that time: “Golden invests in Ulysses Park.”
About eighteen months ago, Dick Peery came to Council with what some of us considered a wild idea. He suggested the Ulysses playing fields could be revamped into something much more usable than the rock-strewn fields that existed at that time. Dick believed that the project could be done at minimal cost, with the work and some of the materials donated.
The City hired a parks consultant to design several playing fields on the 35 acre plot. City staff assumed the role of general contractor. Tom Plummer served as Council’s representative and undertook a fund-raising campaign. The Lions Club offered to construct the main building. The Business and Professional Women served lunch, and a large crew of sod-layers showed up, including members of the public, School of Mines faculty and students, and representatives from various baseball, softball, soccer, and football teams.
The Mayor concluded with this:
Now for a bit of philosophy. We had a real sense of community out there on Saturday. That will be more of a COMMUNITY park than others in the city, because so many of you put your sweat into it. That park isn’t just a new toy that council has provided courtesy of your tax money. Perhaps we will take better care of it since we have a bit of sweat equity there.
We hear a lot of talk about Golden being a small town or having small town spirit. Well, that spirit was showing on Saturday. However, it took some people who think big, like Dick Peery and Tom Plummer, to get the whole thing started.
