On Sept. 18, Pete Kingsley of Strasburg was in the middle of a meeting with his fellow members of Jaycee Park's board of directors. The other members told him they all needed to meet with someone regarding a rental, so the group made its way over to the park, located on Miller Street in Strasburg. Pete didn't think anything of it until he saw his granddaughter's car in the parking lot and his daughter Kim Ingram waving him over to the basketball court, and he began to suspect the meeting wasn't related to a pavilion rental.

When Pete approached the court, which was surrounded by his friends and family members, Kim pulled a cover off the fence to reveal a gleaming new plaque. The plaque signified the dedication of the court in Pete's honor as a way for the community to thank him for years of maintaining the park. "It caught me completely by surprise. I was overwhelmed," Pete said. "I bowed my head and said, 'Thank you, Lord, for what they've done for me.'" Spectators clapped, cheered and shed a few tears as they expressed their profound appreciation for Pete.

"I wanted him to see how much everyone appreciates him," Kim said. "I joke by calling my mom the park widow; he's always in there planting, tending or fundraising." Only a few weeks ago, Pete was at Jaycee Park planting 150 pachysandra flowers in the pouring rain.

Pete is one of the original founders of Jaycee Park, which was created in 1967 by members of the former Strasburg Jaycees service organization. Fellow Jaycees member Danny Scheurich came up with the idea to buy the plot of land and turn it into a park. The park would then be able to host festivals and provide a place to practice for youth sports teams. The Jaycees frequently sponsored local baseball teams at the time, but Strasburg had few baseball fields for players to use. As Pete and his friends grew out of the Jaycees, which was a service group primarily intended for young men, they continued to keep the park in good shape due to a lack of new members.

Pete had been inspired to join the Jaycees when he was 27 years old, after he heard the Jaycee creed for the first time. The code professes the Jaycees' primary values, such as faith in God, community and service to humanity, and Pete strives to live by it to this day. "The creed fell heavy on my heart," Pete said.

Pete was born in Maine, and he first visited Lancaster while working as a lineman in the late '50s. In 1961, he married his wife, Janet, who is a native of Wakefield. By 1970, Pete had built a home in Strasburg for his family, and he operated his own construction business in town for more than 30 years. "I've grown to love the community and the way people are here in Strasburg," Pete said. Pete helped to set up Jaycee Park as a 501(c)(3) organization to ensure that it remains part of Strasburg for future generations.

"My dad has spent his whole life taking care of this place," Kim said. "He's just got that dedication for everything."