Community seeks to name park after resident

Frontiersman reporter

BIG LAKE -- Patty Acton became the champion of Big Lake parks when the state tried to shut them down last summer. She rallied the entire community, from school children to retired tourists, to her cause and camped out much of the summer to keep the parks up and running.

So when Acton died unexpectedly in December leaving behind her husband and children ages 10 to 15, the community was seeking a way to pay tribute to her. What better way to do that than to name a Big Lake park after her?

"My main concern is her kids go there, and a lot of kids go there," said Big Lake resident and Acton's friend, James Thompson. "I wanted something up there so every time they went there they would see their mother's name."

Thompson has gathered more than 300 signatures on a petition seeking to name the North Shore State Park after Patty Acton. Thompson has taken the petition to local legislators and is planning on pursuing the process through the Alaska Division of Parks.

"I am more than willing to pay for a plaque with her name on it to be placed at its entrance," Thompson wrote in his letter to the legislators. "Her children, and the community which she loved so much, will always see it when they come and remember this beautiful lady."

The effort may take more time and convincing than Big Lake residents anticipated, however. According to Rep. Beverly Masek's office in Juneau, naming a state facility or landmark after a person typically requires that the person be deceased for at least five years.

"However, we all know there are exceptions," said Masek's chief of staff, Eric Musser, listing the Ted Stevens International Airport and the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail as examples.

Adding to the challenge, however, is a state government in transition. With a new governor at the helm, changes are beginning from the top down and the state has a new commissioner for the Department of Natural Resources, which oversees parks. In addition, Musser said even under more normal circumstances efforts to memorialize someone usually takes some time to pursue.

"Is it one of these kinds of things that is going to happen in two months? Probably not," he said. "This is going to take at least a year."

However, Musser said Masek and her office are committed to working with the Division of Parks to make it happen.

"It's a big issue for the folks up there," Musser said.

Thompson agrees.

"Patty was a big part of this community," he said. He and others described Acton as someone who was always willing to be a friend, to help out her community and be a mom to many more children than her own.

"Patty was known for liveliness and her passionate zest for life," her family wrote in her obituary. "Her caring and generosity for other was appreciated by those who knew her."

It was this passion and generosity that kept the Big Lake parks open last summer.

When the state closed North Shore and other parks in the Big Lake area last summer, Acton spearheaded a volunteer effort that kept the parks open without any state funding.

"We needed to do something," Acton told the Frontiersman in a story last summer. She described the scene she and her family found at one of the parks after it was no longer maintained by the state, and how she decided there and then to make a difference. She gathered supplies, donations and elbow grease from local businesses and neighbors and kept the parks clean, orderly and open. Joined by her family and friends, Acton spent many nights at the North Shore campground.

"We've had the best summer of our lives," Acton said at the time.