August 12, 2020
By:
The Smithville-DeKalb County presented a Community Improvement Award to the Bill Page Ball Park for the brand-new scoreboard dedicated “In Loving Memory of Bill and Jo Ann Page.” The Bill Page Ball Park was founded in 1985 by Bill and Jo Ann Page with the help of other local volunteers. Bill and Jo Ann had such a great love for kids and the game of softball. After the sudden passing of Bill in 2014, the ballpark became even more important to Jo Ann. She continued management of the league as family members, including Jordan and Morgan Atnip, pitched in to help with the upkeep of the field.
Before Jo Ann’s passing in 2019, she had been working on getting a new scoreboard for the ballpark. She had made a request to Liberty State Bank about sponsoring the project and been in contact with a scoreboard company. After funding was approved, local artist, Dalton Vaughn, designed the “In Memory” panel to be added to the top of the scoreboard. Local businessman, Darrell Gill of Gill Automotive, donated his equipment to be used for installation and supplied the posts. Smithville Electric dug the post holes and mounted the posts.
In 2019, the DeKalb Church League Softball was reestablished with the help of Darrell Gill of Smithville Church of the Nazarene, Daniel Leslie of Elizabeth Chapel Baptist Church, and Logan Cornelius of New Life United Pentecostal Church. These men had helped in years’ past in the normal kids’ season by either coaching or umpiring and now have stepped up to help continue what Bill and Jo Ann started years ago.
Bill and Jo Ann Page’s positive impact in DeKalb County will long be remembered and appreciated by the many adults and children that were touched and inspired by their giving hearts, their long-time dedication to serving others, and their love of kids and softball. For more information on the DeKalb Church League Softball schedule, see their Facebook page.