MACON, Ga. — A south Macon park will soon be named for the woman who helped make it happen. Erica Akins says Frankie Lewis had a lasting impact on her children's lives.
"They don't have anywhere to go. We are losing them to the street, jail, everything. My kids could have been a product of it, but she kept them in different programs," said Akins.
Frankie worked at Bruce Elementary School, directed the children's choir for the Cherry Blossom festival, and started the South Macon Arts Revitalization Technology Group.
She touched the lives of many before she passed away in July.
She had another plan for a park. Marie Hamilton and Gloria Webb worked with Lewis on the project after they saw kids playing in the street, dodging cars.
Her son Antonio Lewis says the plans include a basketball court, a community center, and blight homes being torn down across the street for a parking lot.
"These kids will really appreciate a park like this. They'd have to cross major intersections to even dribble a basketball," said Antonio.
Antonio says he looks up to his mother.
"She set the example. It made it easy to choose the right path," he said.
At their last meeting, county commissioners approved naming the new park the Frankie Everett Lewis Memorial Park in her honor. The county will invest $1.4 million into getting it built.
Friends like Tammy Trupe say they'll work hard to continue the work she was already doing.
"When the park is finished and all done and her name is on that sign, it's going to mean so much," said Trupe.
The woman who stirred their hearts will have her name right at the heart of the community.
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