Central Park

Submitted by Evelyn C. McDonald
Arts & Culture Reporter
July 6, 2015 2:00 p.m.

I know it’s neither art nor culture but Central Park holds a special place for me. Mostly that comes from my grandchildren, who were 4 and 1 respectively when I bought my house as a vacation home. It’s within walking distance of Central Park and on the first trip here with my daughter and family, we discovered the magic of the park for the grandchildren.

Two years after purchasing the place, I moved here full-time. This became my family’s getaway house. My grandchildren were adamant that a visit here had to include one thing, maybe two. There had to be a trip to Central Park to play on the swings and slides, and generally work off some energy there. The beach and the Atlantic Rec Center’s kiddie pool were okay but no trip was complete without a visit to the park.

Summers we had “Grandma Camp” where one child would have a solo visit for a few days. The rule was that you had to be at least 7 years old. Needless to say, my grandson objected to that rule, having a strongly developed bias toward “fair,” at least fair for him.

There were usually other children in the park as well. There would be games of tag or contests of balance. My granddaughter loved to help the smaller children and watch out to make sure they didn’t get hurt. I have photos of the two of them in swings, on slides, hanging upside down from bars, and generally enjoying themselves. The photos are a memory log of how they have grown up over the years. My favorite photo is of the two of them, hand in hand, in a moment of sibling détente en route to the park.

Grandma Camp and weekend visits have been the norm for the past 6 years but times and children change. Though they still visit, there’s not so much clamoring for a trip to the park. Still, when I drive by there, I seem to see them climbing, sliding, and laughing.

Evelyn McDonald moved to Fernandina Beach from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. in 2006. She is a chair of Arts & Culture Nassau, a city commission charged with support of the arts in Nassau County. She serves on FSCJ’s Curriculum Committee for the Center for Lifelong Learning. She is also the chair of the Dean’s Council for the Carpenter Library at the UNF. Ms. McDonald has MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland’s University College and a BA in Spanish from the University of Michigan.