SPLASH DOWN

John J. and Rheba Myers water park opens with a flourish

Posted 8/3/16

There was a tent shading the dignitaries in attendance, a plaque unveiling and a ribboncutting, but the real action began as soon as the controls were on and water spouted from the features in the …

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SPLASH DOWN

John J. and Rheba Myers water park opens with a flourish

Posted

There was a tent shading the dignitaries in attendance, a plaque unveiling and a ribboncutting, but the real action began as soon as the controls were on and water spouted from the features in the John J. and Rheba Myers Splash Park at the Mineola Civic Center Saturday morning.

Rheba Myers sat front row and almost center accompanied by two rows of family members as speeches lauding her generosity were made. Mrs. Myers donated the entire amount of money needed to build the splash park. Community officials and others crowded in the shade of the tent.

Nancy Murphy, civic center manager, welcomed the guests as she called it a “grand and glorious day” at the civic center. Murphy noted John Fuller, the chairman of the Splash Park Committee, was there every day and was instrumental in the building of the park. “Dr. John Fuller, the hardest working man in Mineola,” Murphy said as she introduced him.

Fuller thanked Murphy but said there were several people involved. “It was a team effort.” The splash pad sub-committee met weekly working on the location, the design, selection of vendors “and was with us all along the way.” And he noted that George Assaf, not on the splash pad committee, “took on a special task and that was, in the design phase of this, this was designed by the children of Mineola.”

Fuller also said the city had been a great partner in the project. “It was a journey. But we are here,” he said enthusiastically.

To Mrs. Myers, he said, “This would not have happened had we not had this gift. And because of this gift, I’m one that believes success builds success. We’re already planning a pavilion.”

He said the pavilion “will come about” and that the equipment outside the park would be inside the building. Fuller called attention to a sign on the black chain link fence surrounding the facility with splash park rules. He asked that the rules be enforced because “it’s for the safety of our children.”

The civic center will try to have the facility open each year from April 15 to Sept. 15. The civic center plans to try that season for a year and see how it works. This week it will close at 7 p.m. because that is how the equipment is programmed. They will be open from 9 a.m. to sunset after getting training on the programming from the vendor.

Civic Center Board President Gayle Fuller introduced Jason Henderson, a former civic center president and an Edward D. Jones agent. “He brought it to the floor that we should have for the children of Mineola a splash pad in Mineola,” she said. “So it was his dream that came into fruition. It was meant to be.”

Henderson asked the Myers family to stand as they were given a hearty round of applause.

He’s known the Myers for 11 years. John Myers had one of the most successful Ford dealerships in the entire United States – Myers Courtesy Ford in Garland. “It was on the `money-saving mile’ in Garland, Texas,” Henderson said. He said Myers was well known across the country for starting from the ground and working his way up.

Before Mr. Myers died in October 2014 they set up the John and Rheba Myers scholarship trust fund that serves four counties in East Texas. “It was a really wonderful thing,” Henderson said.

But, Henderson said after Mr. Myers passed away he and Rheba were talking one day when she told him that she really regretted that Mr. Myers never got to see a thank you letter from any of the scholarship recipients. “Rheba has received several since that that the scholarship fund has helped,” he said. She told Henderson that her husband’s focus was the scholarship, but that she thought she would like to leave something from her. He asked what she had in mind and but she didn’t know and asked him what was “out there.”

Henderson told her there were a lot of worthy projects and organizations around town “that do a lot of good in the community.” And he also told her there was an effort to build a splash park for the children at the civic center. “Her eyes lit up. And she said that,” Henderson said with emphasis on the last word, “sounds like something that I would like to do.”

When she made up her mind, she left him a voicemail one evening. She said she was comforted that her husband would have liked the splash park. And she was thinking about all the children and mothers who need something to do and a place to take their children. And she was one of those mothers with those little children.

“John was a great, generous man. He was very successful. As Dr. Fuller said a minute ago, success begot success… and John’s legacy and Rheba’s will continue past John’s lifetime with that scholarship fund. Rheba’s legacy is what you see here today. Because she said I want to see something now in my lifetime.”

Henderson presented Mrs. Myers with a thank plaque from the Mineola Civic Center and children Wood County “for the hours of fun and laughter you have made possible by your contribution.”

Mrs. Myers said she was glad to see so many people were there, including some who she hadn’t seen in a very long time. “Some I expected would be here and some I hadn’t expected because I hadn’t heard from them in a very long time but somehow they found out that the pool was going to be open today,” she said lightly as the crowd laughed. All in the front row were grandchildren except the couple on the end of whom she said, “he lives in the place where I go and we eat cereals together.” The woman with him, she said, “She keeps me straight sometimes. She’s worth everything.” She continued, delighting those present as she took the opportunity to rib her family members some.

Then she got a little serious. “There’s no place like Mineola,” she said, then added, “because everybody always knows your business,” causing more laughter. “Anyhow, ya’ll have fun now.”

Ryan James was the speaker who followed Mrs. Myers. He talked to those present about the pavilion project. He is the finance chairman on the civic center board and he apologized as he took emphasis off the Myers family “for just a moment” as he told those present about the fundraising for the pavilion.

“Outside of this tent, it’s extremely hot,” he noted. “And so we just wanted to have a place for the parents and children just to hang out, to have birthday parties, gatherings.” The future concession stand would be available for many activities and the showers would assist in attracting RVers. He said the project will be over a little $100,000 to build and he was issuing a challenge. “The Myers family has already stepped up and so if you can, donate to this great cause because as we’ve talked about, a lot of people think the city money comes here and it does not.”

After this the Myers dedication plaque was unveiled and a ribbon was cut. And the children who had waited as patiently and as quietly as possible in shorts and swimsuits and sandals with beach towels at long last rushed happily for the first time into the Mineola splash park.