Clinton park honors downtown advocate
CLINTON, Iowa — Sally Findlay Park in downtown Clinton isn’t big enough for a jungle gym or to throw a Frisbee around, and jogging from one end to the other couldn’t take more than a couple of seconds.
But Findlay’s daughter says it is the perfect tribute to a woman who was a tireless advocate for the downtown area.
A dedication ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. Friday for the new park in the 200 block of 5th Avenue South. The small park, with landscaping and a picnic table, is just down the street from the location where Findlay operated Sally’s Yarns and Crafts at the corner of
5th Avenue South and South 3rd Street for many years before closing the store in the early 1980s, said her daughter, Jacquie Findlay, of Clinton.
“I can just see her in that little space,” Findlay said.
After closing her store, Lucille “Sally” Findlay continued to stay involved in downtown
projects, serving as the coordinator of the Downtown Business and Professional Association for the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, said Julie Allesee, director of the Clinton Convention & Visitors Bureau, who worked with Findlay.
Steve Bamman, director of Clinton’s Downtown Partnership, said the cost of landscaping the small piece of property was about $20,000, paid for entirely with private donations and funds from local groups such as Rotary, the Clinton County Community Development Association, the Clinton Sesquicentennial Committee and Community Housing Initiatives.
“It was a way to recognize somebody that tried to contribute,” Bamman said.
Sally made many close friends while helping downtown business owners promote their businesses, Jacquie said.
“There wasn’t a day when you wouldn’t see her downtown someplace.
Jacquie said one of her mother’s annual projects was to encourage downtown businesses to put big red bows on their doors during the Christmas season. Sally lead a group that made the bows and delivered them to local businesses, Jacquie Findlay said.
After Sally died in 2002 at the age of 83, downtown business owners honored her memory by putting black bows on their doors on the day of her funeral, Jacquie said.
Sally Findlay was not someone who sought the spotlight, but her daughter said she would be honored to have a beautiful piece of downtown Clinton named after her.
“My whole family is so touched,” she said. “What a wonderful tribute to my mom.”
Steven Martens can be contacted at (563) 659-2595 or smartens@qctimes.com.