News Bulletins

A Monumental Day - by Jessica Walters

Paul Anderson returned to Toccoa this past Thursday.

Long recognized as one of Toccoa’s most famous, and inspirational, citizens, Paul Anderson not only brought home an Olympic gold medal from Melbourne, Australia in 1956, he brought home a new and passionate love of Jesus and a determination to share that love and to make a difference in the lives of others, said Anderson’s daughter Paula Anderson-Schafer.

“He really wanted to win (the Gold medal), but once he won, it was not something he kept going back to,” Paula said Thursday as she watched the life-sized bronze sculpture of her father being carefully lifted and placed on the pedestal in the middle of the fountain that graces the Toccoa park being created in his honor.

“He really dedicated his life to the Lord at the Olympics, so when he got home he set out finding where he could help people and he found that niche working with young boys who were being put into adult prisons and he never looked back.”

Paula, who remembers her father as “the most wonderful father a girl could have,” said she remembers her mother finding her father’s gold medal in the back of some drawer, tucked away and forgotten as he dedicated his life and his time to spreading his message and helping those he could.

“I have told people that my dad, to me, was perfect. He had no faults and if we could rename the state of Georgia after him, I’d be all for it,” she said, adding that her father worked himself endlessly and was often away from home during her childhood.

“As busy as he was ‐ he spoke over 500 times a year ‐ I don’t really have all the memories of him not being home because when he was home, he made time for me. Now that I have children, I look back and think of what a sacrifice that was that he would always take time to let me know that I was the priority of his life. I took it for granted then, but I look back now and see what a wonderful father he was.”

The fact that the idea for the Paul Anderson Park began with a group of students would mean a lot to her father, said Paula.

“I think the fact that the SEARCH class started this is a blessing beyond words,” she said as she watched her children ‐ Paul’s grandchildren ‐ crowd around the life-sized statue. “That the youth saw that Toccoa didn’t really have a memorial for him and they wanted to change, that; that would blessed him beyond words and that fact alone would make him love the park. He was not one to look for accolades for himself, but I think that he would be thrilled that this was the children’s idea.”

The park, an idea born in the minds of a group of Stephens County youth more than seven years ago, has faced a long struggle to become a reality, said Buster Smith.

The hurdles and pitfalls of bringing the concept of a memorial park to reality have all been worthwhile, however, Smith added, saying that the installation of the bronze sculpture nearly completes the hardscape of the park, leaving just the landscape work to be completed before the park is ready to open. “Probably within a month to six weeks, it will all be done and we are planning on having a dedication ceremony and are trying to get (governor) Sonny Purdue up here for that.”

Smith, who remembers Anderson as a role model and a teenaged idol during his youth, said that the park is important to the community.

“To me, it says something for your home town when you have a nice park, it makes a statement and adds a little class to it,” he said. “More important than that, though, it is recognizing one of the greatest people from Toccoa and the theme to the whole park is going to be inspiration and will Glorify God because that is what Paul’s life was all about.”

One of the greatest challenges in taking the park from a concept to a reality has been the financial aspect, said Smith.

“We just totally stepped out in faith,” he said of the decision to move ahead with the actual construction of the park a little over six months ago. “We don’t have the money to build this,” he added, but said there has been support from the community and from volunteers as well as businesses donating time and equipment. There will be a fundraising banquet on April 12 at the Currahee Club to help raise the needed funds to pay for the park, and Smith said there are plans to build a donor’s monument at one end of the park.