Howdy,

As you may have heard, Frito-Lay made a donation for restrooms and other facilities to go up at Fort Crockett Park and now the County wants to rename the Seawall Park after a Frito Lay product. In my opinion, this is ridiculous. Galveston continually ventures away from it's historical past, when in fact we should be celebrating it and preserving it. Yes, this is probably not the biggest deal that we're facing right now in the wake of the "rebirth"; however, the more and more we get away from our past, the more we forget who we are and where we came from.

If you, like me, are against renaming "Fort Crockett Park" to "Sunchips Seawall Park", I encourage you to use one of the resources below to contact the county and tell them to explore other means. Even if that means "Sunchips Center at Fort Crockett Park" or something to that nature, that's better than eradicating the historical significance of Fort Crockett. I've seen Texags accomplish things in the past through simple actions like this, so if you agree (or even disagree) with me, I encourage you let your voice be heard.

STORY
http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=9941833d6f9b6557

quote:

---

The park dedicated to the Army garrison built in the early 1900s to protect Galveston from invaders soon may be renamed in honor of a snack chip.

County commissioners Wednesday set in motion a process to change the name of Fort Crockett Park to SunChips Seawall Park at Fort Crockett. The request came from Frito-Lay, the snack company that makes SunChips, a multigrain snack chip.

...

Before the snack maker can brand the park after one of its products, though, a 30-day public comment period is required, County Judge Jim Yarbrough said. The seawall is a county park.

Barring a major outcry from the public, the park would get its new name just in time for the anniversary of Hurricane Ike, which came ashore Sept. 13.

---

CONTACT INFORMATION

quote:

---

Park Renaming

The 30-day public comment period for renaming Fort Crockett Park in Galveston to SunChips Seawall Park at Fort Crockett starts Aug. 8. Comments must be submitted in writing to:

Galveston County Department of Parks and Senior Services

4102 Main St., La Marque, TX 77568

ONLINE: Go to the “Contact Us” section at http://www.galvestonparks-seniors.org and click on the information e-mail link.

---

[This message has been edited by McInnis 03 (edited 8/6/2009 8:08a).]

I realize that writing an email or letter can be time consuming so I'll post what I sent to the email address (info.parks-seniors@co.galveston.tx.us) given and you can feel free to change it up however you see fit.

quote:

---

To whom it may concern:

In regards to the article I read in the Galveston Daily News today (http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewc ... 3d6f9b6557), I'd like to submit for comment my opinion on the proposed plan to rename Fort Crockett Park in Galveston.

I think it is fantastic and I am very gracious that Frito-Lay has made such a generous donation for restrooms and other facilities to go up at Fort Crockett Park; however, I do not think that renaming the park in honor of a Frito-Lay product is the proper way to show gratitude of this act. Galveston Island and Galveston County continually venture away from their historical past, when in fact we should be celebrating and preserving it. The more we get away from our past, the more we forget who we are and where we came from. On a yearly basis Galveston is tearing down historical structures and features in favor of new construction, new parking lots, and other non-historical features. This is destroying the fiber of what at one time made it so great. Frito-Lay, as a company based in Texas, should completely understand Texans sense of pride and connection with it's historical past.

I am against renaming "Fort Crockett Park" to "Sunchips Seawall Park", I encourage the County to explore other methods of recognizing Frito-Lay's donation. I think every effort should be made to preserve the Fort Crockett Moniker while also making it known that the corporate donation played a huge role in the new facilities existence. Now I realize a person should not speak up against something without offering an alternative suggestion, so with that, I think that one possible alternative would be to name the new facilities "Sunchips Center at Fort Crockett Park", or something along these lines. I am sure that the County can discuss other alternatives that will be proposed.

I simply feel that getting away from the identity of the island is not a favorable path forward for Frito-Lay, Galveston Island, or Galveston County. Obviously the progress forward couldn't be possible without this corporate donation, so recognition is fair, but let us not remove the identity we already have simply because of how excited we are to receive a gift.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment and I hope that my opinions and options will be explored further by the County....

Best Regards,

---

how about Fort Crockett Park presented by Sunchips?

Anything is better than Sunchips Seawall Park

How about

"Potato Chip Park" ?

Fort Crockett Park, generously underwritten by McInnis03.

Frito pie park! What could be more Texan than Frito pie?

County has bailed on their plan due to public discontent! Woohoo!

Chronicle Article:
http://ow.ly/jW1L

Guess I don't need this anymore...