I live in Oak Point, Texas, just down the street from Jake’s Place Park. For more than five years, I have driven by the park almost daily without knowing anything about it.
Today, I was on my motorcycle, just cruising around, when I decided that I needed to know who Jake was and why he had a park. It was a scorching day about 15 minutes ago, on August 21, 2024, at 1:oo PM.
I pulled up to the park just across a parking lot from the city hall, and police station.
I got off my bike and started looking for some kind of plaque, and I found it over by a pavilion.
I didn’t realize that the park had a walking trail and was much larger than I first thought. Since the park was named after Jake, I assumed he was a little boy who might have died.
Jake Mazur
Reading the plaque, I learned that Jake was 15 years old. In 1993, Jake went fishing with his dad on Lake Fork when a storm rolled up on them before they could get off the lake. Jake was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning. Jake loved bass fishing and playing sports.
In his honor, Mayor Harold Bowden and the city council acquired the land and turned it into Jake’s Place.
This was a very emotional moment for me because when I was 15 years old, I lost my best friend, Phillip Nelson, in a drowning accident at Lake Whitney. I am so glad I stopped by and learned about Jake. As I drive by Jake’s Place, I will think about him and the accident, even though I never met him. Jake would have been 46 years old today.
My advice - When you see a plaque, stop and read it.
There is always something important to learn, like Jake’s Place.