Anniversary Celebration held at Edgar Evins State Park

A celebration was held Thursday at Edgar Evins State Park to commemorate the park’s 37th anniversary and the 75th anniversary of the Tennessee State Park system.
The park was officially dedicated in 1975 and named after the father of Congressman Joe L. Evins, James Edgar Evins.
Carl Halfacre, park manager, who presided over the formal ceremony Thursday, explained how the park came into existence. “As early as 1949, our first term U.S. Congressman Joe L. Evins began a letter-writing campaign that lasted for the better part of 20 years, wanting a state park built on Center Hill Lake. It wasn’t until 1969 that those dreams and those wishes came to fruition when then State Senator Vernon Neal got a bill passed to appropriate money to build a state park.”
The man for whom the park is named, James Edgar Evins, “had been a school teacher, justice of the peace, a salesman and a businessman with several businesses in Smithville, had the first bus line from Smithville to Lebanon, and he was also the Smithville mayor and was also the state senator, to name a few of his endeavors,” Halfacre said.
Today, the park includes about 6,000 acres: 1,500 on north side of the lake and 4,500 on south of the lake, which is largely undeveloped.
During the celebration on Thursday, State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver and State Senator Mae Beavers read a proclamation to commemorate the anniversary, and Cornelia Overton and Joseph Overton, both great grandchildren of James Edgar Evins, performed the national anthem. Officials thanked everyone involved in the creation and maintenance of the state parks over the 75 years of their existence. There were also performances by James Westerfield of Murfreesboro who portrayed himself as James Edgar Evins and Charles Robinson who portrayed himself as Adam Dale, founder of Liberty. Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau and deputy commissioner Brock Hill also made remarks during the program
A traveling exhibit commemorating the 75th anniversary of Tennessee State Parks is visiting the parks. It includes information about the origins and heritage of the park system and the award won for the Best State Park System in America in 2007.
(TOP PHOTO: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau, State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver, Ramble the Raccoon, and Deputy Commissioner Brock Hill)