Historical Summer 2009 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
National Night Out will be held on August 4, 2009, from 5:30- 9:00 p.m. at the Four Corners, Des Peres and Kingsbury. Despite the heat of August, this is always a well-attended event where neighbors come together to share the camaraderie of standing up against crime.
This year, it will be even more special, as the neighborhood will officially rename the park “Greg Freeman Park at Four Corners.” On the last day of 2002, we received the news that Greg Freeman had passed away. Greg was a very popular columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and hosted a radio program.
He was beloved in the community.
He spent his adult life living in Skinker-DeBaliviere with his wife, Elizabeth, and son, Will.
The neighborhood was very important to him and he watched its revival closely.
He participated in various neighborhood events and became a member of the Community Council in about 1994.
He was vice president for much of the time that he served.
He worked very hard on the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration and gave the keynote address one year.
He was a booster and a friend to many of us.
In the summer following his death, several of us met to think of an appropriate way to remember him in our neighborhood.
We decided on naming the park at Four Corners in his memory.
The name — Greg Freeman Park at Four Corners — began to be used in correspondence and flyers. Now, Andy Cross, who helped select the memorial, has built a sign to name the park in Greg’s memory for all to see.
During the National Night Out celebration, the sign will be unveiled. Cross plans to ask family and friends if they care to attend.
As the Post-Dispatch titled a selection of his columns, Greg was a “gentleman” and “a gentle man.” He exemplified the spirit of our neighborhood and I wish everyone could have known him.
He suffered from a number of illnesses and died too young. But, his spirit and his vision touched many of us. Let’s join together at National Night Out.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, Summer 2009.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2009_06.pdf, printed page(s) 1; PDF page(s) 1.
