COUNTY PRK PAVILION DEDICATED TO HUCKSTEP

Family and friends of the late Gene E. Huckstep, a presiding county commissioner, say naming the newest pavilion at Cape Girardeau County North Park in his honor is a fitting tribute. Some even suggested the entire park be named in his honor.

About 100 people attended a dedication service Sunday afternoon for shelter No. 4, now officially known as the Gene E. Huckstep Pavilion.

"I can't think of a greater honor you could give him," said Cheri Huckstep-Reed, his oldest daughter.

"My dad loved the community and all the people in the community. This park began as a dream of his and is the most beautiful park around."

Huckstep, Ronald Fischer, E.C. Younghouse and Leonard Sander, all former Cape Girardeau County commissioners, were among commissioners who worked to create the county park along Highway 61. Huckstep was county commissioner from 1979 to 1994. He died in May 1998.

Without Huckstep's efforts, there wouldn't be a park and pavilion to dedicate, said Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones.

During his tenure on the commission, Huckstep worked to create the park on both sides of the highway and to see that a Veterans Home was built in Cape Girardeau.

There were so many things he helped create or accomplishments he made in the county that Jones could only name the highlights. "Gene would have loved this," he said of the pavilion.

His family agreed. His wife, mother, and several of his children and grandchildren attended the dedication service.

Huckstep-Reed told a story about how worried her father had become when the summer heat reached such high temperatures that fish in the lake in the South Park were dying. "He was just physically ill," she said.

Families gathered at other shelters for picnics and reunions, which is exactly what Huckstep would have wanted for the park, she said.

"And if he was here, he'd want to shake hands with everybody" that had helped or had anything to do with the pavilion construction, Huckstep-Reed said.

It took about five months to build the pavilion, which seats 200 people. It is the largest pavilion in the park. Much of the labor and equipment was donated to the shelter, said Max Stovall, a county commissioner.