George family donates park bench

Grand Island civic leader Ted George has been honored by his family through the donation of a park bench at George Park along Independence Avenue.

"We shape our lives not by what we carry with us, but by what we leave behind," an inscription on the bench states.

For George, that means years of service to the Northwest Community Baseball League. He and then-wife Jean operated a concession stand for about 20 years during the ball games.

"We called it the Short Stop," George recalled. "We had dime candy and 15-cent pop. I just gave the store away, but we had everyone in town out here.

"It was open every day there was a game or practice," George said.

George's granddaughter, Angie Runyan of Hastings, came up with the idea for the bench.

They presented a picture of the bench to George for his 80th birthday March 16, but the bench was set by parks staff over the summer.

"It's where the concession stand was," Runyan said. "I remember summers helping out here. This was our home away from home."

George's children, Sheri Kelly of Hastings; and sons, Bob George of Utah, Mike George of Lincoln and Randy George of Texas all contributed toward the bench along with their respective families.

George has nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

"This is a great honor," George said as family gathered at the park on a recent Saturday afternoon. "It takes a lot and shows a lot of family love and respect.”