Rec Facilities To Be Named For Henry "Hank" Anderson, III
Friday, August 2nd, 2024
The concessions building and recreation fields at the Mack Gaston Community Center will be named in honor of the late Henry “Hank” Anderson, III, who was an instrumental and influential member of Dalton’s Parks and Recreation Department in the 1950s and 60s. There will be a ceremony to dedicate the facility in his honor on Saturday, August 17th.
Mr. Anderson graduated from Allen College in Columbia, South Carolina (now Allen University) with a degree in recreation management and in 1952 he was recruited to come to work for the Dalton Parks and Recreation Department by John Davis. When he arrived in Dalton, the only facilities the City had were the swimming pool and a playground. During his tenure, Allen started a lifeguard certification program and free swimming lessons and also instituted youth baseball, basketball, and football leagues. He also was instrumental in organizing funding for the construction of the first community center and upgrading numerous parks facilities. After Anderson was passed over for the position of director of the department, he left to become director of Chapel Hill, North Carolina’s Parks and Recreation Department in the 1960s, a position he held for the next three decades. A park near Chapel Hill is named in his honor.
Caption: The soccer field at the Mack Gaston Community Center is one of the facilities to be renamed in honor of Henry "Hank" Anderson, III.
At the March 18th meeting of the Dalton Mayor and Council, Dalton resident Fred Johnson spoke to the council and suggested finding some way to honor Mr. Anderson’s contributions to the City of Dalton. Members of the Parks and Recreation Department studied his history and presented a proposal to the Recreation Commission which determined that naming the Mack Gaston Center facilities in his honor was appropriate.
The Mack Gaston Community Center is located at 218 North Fredrick Street. The public is invited to attend the dedication ceremony there on Saturday, August 17th at 10:00 am.
