Special to the Herald
RINCON – “If you renovate it, they will come.”
This paraphrased line from the 1989 film “Field of Dreams” aptly describes what has happened at McCall Park in south Effingham County.
Slightly less than a year ago following a $400,000 enhancement project, a ribbon was cut at the Effingham County facility at 5450 McCall Rd, in Rincon. The renovated facility features a baseball field, a multi-purpose field for other sports, a full-sized basketball court, an ADA-compliant playground, a dog park, a walking trail, restrooms, and a pavilion.
The fenced-in playground was bustling with about a dozen children and six young parents on a recent sunny morning.
“We love it because most of the parks around here don’t have swings,” Yaya Narcisse said while gently pushing her two-year-old son Exodus. “We’ve been coming here just about every Friday for six months now. It’s perfect – and it’s nice and clean.”
Narcisse, a Port Wentworth resident, usually watches her son cavort on the playground equipment while her brothers play basketball nearby. Her average McCall Park visit lasts 60-90 minutes.
“It’s nice because (Exodus) will run around in the house all day if I don’t bring him out here,” she said. “He burns off some of his energy. He started going down the slide by himself not too long ago.”
Longtime Effingham County resident Deanna Upchurch and her three-year-old son Eason travel from Guyton to enjoy McCall Park.
“I remember when there wasn’t much here,” Upchurch said. “We come three or four times a week. I bring (Eason) here so he can burn some energy, but he asks to come, too.”
Valeria Kirchner likes the park so much that she makes a 20-minute drive from Pooler to use it twice a week. It’s her favorite place to play fetch with her rambunctious 14-month-old Labrador retriever.
“The dog park is big and has nice grass,” Kirchner said. “My dog doesn’t get all muddy.”
Kirchner finds the park, built more than five decades ago by Westwood Heights Homes Association Inc. and deeded to Effingham County in 1991, appealing for other reasons.
“It’s nice and quiet,” she said.
The McCall Park improvements were funded primarily by the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). In addition, Keith and Lori Sapp made a donation in honor of their son, Jake, who was killed in a 2018 vehicle accident. The baseball field is named in Jake’s honor. Denver, Colorado-based OmniTrax (parent company of Georgia & Florida Railway) also contributed to the project.
