Park named in community activist’s honor

By Bryan McKenzie

Published: May 2, 2008

MADISON

Next to the feed store at the corner of Church and Main, right near the Sheriff’s Office and catty-corner from the DMV, a faux brick walkway meanders through a small park with wrought iron arches sporting iron vines entwined to spell “Beasley Park.”
In its center, near the patio-style tables and chairs, stands its namesake, talking and waving to passersby.
“I call myself a homeboy because I’ve never been too far away from Madison,” says Lawrence B. Beasley, 69. “You’ve heard that saying that it takes a village to raise a child? Well, I’m that child.”
A man walks out of the Department of Motor Vehicles and calls across the street. Mr. Beasley smiles and waves.
“I know a lot of people but this is the South and if you stand in a small Southern town people are going to wave at you, because people are friendly here,” Mr. Beasley says, gesticulating to a man in a silver pickup.
Folks in Madison are definitely friendly toward Mr. Beasley, so much so that they are naming the park after him. The small, downtown lot will be christened at 2 p.m. Sunday.
“He’s been busily working in Madison County and active in the community and his church for so long and he’s just a wonderful man,” said Nannette M. Crowdus, of Madison, who served on the committee that helped raise money to improve the park. “He’s looked after all of the plantings throughout the town and in that park for years. It was just natural.”
Mr. Beasley’s curriculum vitae is chock-full of character and kindness. He is one of 10 children and, with his siblings, went to work early in life to help support the family.
“I got my Social Security card when I was 12 and pretty much always had a job,” he recalls, casting a wave at a woman in a Ford Explorer. “It wasn’t a hard life, though. Nothing is that bad if you think positive and act positive. Growing up was a lot of fun and we had a lot of fun as a family.”
Mr. Beasley also grew up with Jim Crow. He attended George Washington Carver High School, a blacks-only high school that served residents of Madison, Orange, Rappahannock and Culpeper counties. He also played baseball in the black leagues of Virginia and was considered a “consistent player” and good hitter, if not a long-ball man.
Never one to lie idle, he’s had many occupations, most simultaneously. He’s been a roofer, painter, chauffeur, cook, butler, barber and school bus driver. For more than 30 years he was the county maintenance crew.
“I was pretty much a crew of one,” he says as a car goes by and his hand goes up. “A lot of times I’d have help from people over at the jail who were doing community service or were [trustees] and we’d work together.”
His impact on others and enjoyment of life earned Mr. Beasley the village’s respect.
“He’d have a lot of the juvenile offenders out there working with him and he would talk with them,” Mrs. Crowdus recalled. “He had a positive impact on them and on everyone he met. He still does.”
“Sometimes I’d have [juveniles] working with me and I’d tell them an old saying: ‘Once a job has begun, don’t leave it until it’s done. Be the task big or small, do it well or not at all.’ That’s the way to do something,” he says. “And you know, we had a lot of fun.”
When his long-time friend Mayo Yowell suggested the park be named in Mr. Beasley’s honor, the town and county quickly approved it.
“When Mr. Yowell told me, I was kind of embarrassed, you know. Then I thought about it and I figured that, if they feel I’m worthy of it, it’s fine with me,” he says. “Truth is, I’m real proud of it. When your neighbors think that much of you, well, words can’t describe how good it feels.”