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About 150 neighbors and friends turned out for the dedication of the Keith Ayres Memorial Park on Sunday, Oct. 5. The park, now open to the public, is located about a mile and a half south of Winston off BB blacktop.
Keith Daniel Ayres died Jan. 23, 2004. He was 16 years old.
The park consists of five acres that were originally part of the family farm, according to Keith’s father, Dan Ayers. It has a gravel parking lot that will hold between 25-30 cars. There are trees for shade and plenty of grassy lawn. Four picnic benches can be found on the grounds, along with running water.
The area was always a favorite spot for Keith with a lot of good memories. Keith was a Life Scout of Winston Boy Scout Troop #167, Mic-O-Say. One time he and some other boy scouts were looking for a place to camp on the farm and came across a newborn fawn that had been hidden by its mother.
"They were little guys, about 12 years old," said Dan. "They got to see that baby fawn. That helped a little bit on deciding to make it their close-to-home campsite."
Keith invited classmates from Gallatin and Winston there for a school picnic. In January of this year, the Klondike Derby was held in the park. About 135 scouts showed up in zero degree weather.
"It was pretty out there," said Dan. "The kids were having a barrel of fun."
Keith died unexpectedly of cardiac dysrhythmia.
"We had no idea," said Dan. "We thought he was a perfectly healthy kid. He was stronger than a bull. You never know in this world. Take every day for that day. You don’t get no second chances."
The park was dedicated on what would have been Keith’s 21st birthday. Keith’s grandfather, Fred Ayres, told Keith to always be a good boy and he would get him something nice for his 21st birthday. Marjorie, Fred’s widow, said she wasn’t sure what Fred had in mind, but she was sure he wasn’t thinking a park. Maybe a car, or something like that.
When Fred would say that, Keith would say, jokingly, "Oh, Grandpa, you’ll be dead by then."
As fate would have it, neither Keith nor Fred would live to see that day. Fred died on Oct. 27 of last year.
Keith and his grandfather Fred were the greatest of buddies, according to Marjorie. They worked together and played together.
"They did lawn work, picking up rocks around the field, any little thing like that that they could both do," she said.
There is an American Flag at the park and under that flag rests a good sized rock with both Keith and Fred’s names engraved on it.
Marjorie said there is a story behind that rock. The two of them were out on a four-wheeler clearing a field. They came across the boulder and Fred said it was too heavy to lift and they would have to leave it. Keith told him, no, he would get that rock out of there. He got a crow bar and pried it out and the two of them lifted it and got it on the four-wheeler and hauled it to the house and put it on a rock pile.
It set there for a long time.
One day, after Keith was gone, Fred said he was going to take that rock and have Keith’s name engraved on it. Which he did.
"That big rock had meaning to him," said Marjorie. "He said he and Keith both had their hands on it at the same time."
After Fred also passed away, the other men in the family took the rock back and had Fred’s name engraved on the other side. They all knew Keith would have been pleased.
"We want to let people know there’s a park here they can use, and thank everybody for their turnout and support at the dedication," said Dan.