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NOTE: Jim Shawn is a Bear Graduate, Class of 1953. This story ran in the Monitor during the latter part of July, 2000
The Monitor
Juan
cigars and collects Harley-Davidson motorcycles, presented a proposal to the
city commission Wednesday
night that would enable him and a group of donors to build a 175-foot flagpole
in a new one-acre park
in San Juan. If built, the flagpole would be one of the tallest in the
Shawn predicts his flag will be made of a heavy-duty material similar to
nylon. It will be 40 feet long and
35 feet wide, and will probably cost about $2,500, he said. “I know
it’s a crazy idea,” Shawn said. “Hell, I’ll be the first to admit that. “But
it’s my crazy idea, and it may only be a pipe dream, but I want it
to come true.” The idea for the patriotic-theme park came five years ago when
Shawn
was with a group of friends. “I noticed that there weren’t any parks that
celebrated Flag Day,” he
said. “Nothing at all that celebrated the American Flag. I’m hoping this (park)
will change that.”
He also said his park is a chance to give back to the community. “I’ve
always been very patriotic,” he said. “This is just a way for me to give back
to the city where I grew up in and to honor the veterans.
The park, tentatively named “Liberty Park,” would be located on the
corner of South Standard Street and Business 83. Plans call for a World War II
plane, a few benches, and the flags of all the military armed services, as well
as a flag for the POW/MIA veterans who are still missing, Shawn said.
“This isn’t going to be a barbecue park,” he said. “It’s going to be a
park where people can go and relax
and appreciate the flags in their beauty, not worry about anything else.”
A vacant brick building on the property could be used to as a recreation center
or a new town library, Shawn added. “I hear they are really in need of one,”
Shawn said with a grin. San Juan City Manager Jorge Arcaute said the building,
which used to house a savings and loan office, is too small for a library.
“We’d have to do some sort of expansion project to make it into a library,”
Arcaute said. “It’s a very small building. I was thinking it could be used as a
satellite office for the Chamber of Commerce.” Shawn suggested that the
building could be used as a small museum that would highlight the park and the
history of the American flag.
Shawn hopes completion of the Park and the building — whatever it ends up
containing — will happen
next year. “Although it’s hard to put a time on it,” he said. “But I sure
would like to see it for next
Flag Day, June 14.”
Bears
"In the News"
by
~ David Dozier ~
Two
Bears, 20 years apart in age, recently completed the grueling Texas
Marathon Challenge. David Dozier, president of
the PSJA class of 1956,
and Mayo Caceres, class of 1976, were both
honored in festivities
February 26 in
Challenge required runners to complete the
Rock, the
succession under the required time limit. Each marathon
is 26.2 miles
long. It meant running five marathons in just
under a four-month period.
The
completed the Chicago Marathon just two weeks
prior to the start of the
Challenge. Dave Dozier is a resident of
Antonio
marathons, during which they talked about the
various races. They didn't
realize that they were both PSJA Bears until the
awards banquet.
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