The Rainbow Connection

There's a park on the South side of town that I rarely think of. I remember it from fifty-some years ago because my sister lived near it and would take her toddler there to play. I think I remember going to her house once and she and I took our boys, Mike and Doug, to the park.

This may or may not be the house they lived in. I just remember it as being on the east side of the park. I was on that side of town this morning and decided to stop at the park and look around.

I always wondered why it was called Rainbow Park. I found out why. Originally it was named South Park and is the city's oldest park. It was renamed Rainbow Park to honor WWI Company C, 168th Infantry Battalion, 42nd (Rainbow) Division.
But why was it known as the Rainbow Division? Because it was comprised of National Guard units from twenty-six states, Colonel Douglas MacArthur remarked that "the 42nd Division stretches like a rainbow from one end of America to the other".

The park encompasses a city block with these arbors at all four corners. I wonder if they would like some Cardinal Climber seeds for next year?

When I first got there, this older gentleman was walking around picking up trash with one of those hand held reachers. I wouldn't be surprised if this is something he does almost every day.

A plaque on the bandstand reads: "In honor of Charles A. Hayden, Founder and Director of the Creston Municipal Band, 1921 - 1953".

Centerpiece of the park is the 116 year-old fountain which has been restored. I remember thinking it was called Rainbow Park because of the rainbows created when the fountain was running. It seems to me like it was a wading pool when my son and nephew were little. I'm sure there wasn't a fence around it then.

Close up of the fountain. The park has a playground, picnic shelters and is surrounded by mature shade trees.

With evidence of at least two old trees which had to be cut down. From the shoots growing up around one of them, I think they were Poplars.

We live so close to McKinley Park that I don't even think about going to Rainbow Park, but maybe next time we have great-grandkids visiting we should consider taking them there to play.