Ken Myers stands by a piece of playground equipment volunteers put in Saturday at Pelley Park in Hanoverton. Myers is the great grandson of the park’s namesake, Doc Pelley. (Photo by Ron Firth)

HANOVERTON — When Ken Myers moved back to Hanoverton after six decades, there was a job waiting for him.

Myers was among the volunteers who helped install playground equipment Saturday at Pelley Park.

“He has a special love for Pelley Park,” Hanoverton Mayor Becky Kibler said.

Myers is the great-grandson of Henry “Doc” Pelley. The park carries Pelley’s name after being the town physician for 60 years until 1953.

“Obviously, Hanoverton is not the biggest place, but it is special and Doc Pelley was a special guy,” Myers said.

Myers, now 74, lived in Hanoverton until age 8 when Columbia Gas transferred his father to St. Clairsville.

“I always knew there was Pelley Park,” Myers said. “There was some people complaining about the condition of it and I read about it.”

He said that was in 2021 and he got on the phone.

“It’s like anything else in a small community, you don’t have a dedicated staff for the park,” he said.

Playground equipment from the old United school that was demolished sat near the park for more than a year.

When Myers moved back to Hanoverton in December, it was time for village officials and others to set a day aside for the project.

“In a village, it takes everyone to help out,” Myers said. “They don’t have money to hire a parks and recreation director. They have a one-person street crew.”

Parks are something he knows about. Myers spent 17 years as parks and recreation director at Bellaire and Fremont and 18 years as the Fremont safety service director before retiring in 2009.

There was work done well before Saturday’s installation. The legs at the bottom of the playground equipment had been cut off because it was cemented in at the school.

Kibler said resident Dan Paumier saw the playground equipment on the ground last summer.

“He saw a piece of equipment when we had it laying on the tennis court and wondered what it was,” she said. “I told him we were going to install it at the park and it needs some fabrication because it was cut. He said, ‘I can do that.’ He did a fabulous job. Without him, it probably would not have happened.”

“To do something like this, you need people in the community,” Myers said. “They all worked hard on this. If it wasn’t for the rain, it would have been a perfect day.”

He was back Monday morning checking measurements for the mulch that will be placed around all the playground equipment.

“The people who were here were committed,” Myers said. “This is step one.”

Kibler estimates it will cost $800 for the mulch.

“We’d like to do a few more things,” she said.

Kibler said the community corn roast, a yearly event that provides free dinners for the community, receives many donations that more than covers the cost. The event has been held at the fire station by Pelley Park, but Kibler said it will be moving this year to the new fire station. Excess funds are given back to the community and last year the park received $500.

“We’re not affluent, but we’re at least keeping our head above water,” Kibler said.

She said she pays attention to other local communities who receive government grants.

“We’ve applied for many grants, but never got one,” she said. “The bigger communities seem to get them. We get left out.”

Pelley Park gets by on its own and still stands as a tribute to Doc Pelley.

Myers said Grandad Doc delivered both of his parents — Reba (Pelley) Myers and the late Harry Myers — and most of the others in town at the time.

His house and office still stand today — along Main Street just off Route 30. Pelley died in 1963 at the age of 98.

“They had visitation at the house and it was packed,” Myers said. “He was something.”

“The Pelley family gave that land to the village for a park,” Kibler said. “It’s an asset and we’re proud of it.”

The new addition at the park is taped off until some final work can be done.

“It’s a little rough now, but you can see what it can be,” Myers said.