Orion Township officials conjured up a bit of history last week when they agreed to name a recently acquired park after one of Orion’s founders.
The park, off Squirrel Road, features a playground, tennis courts, and picnic pavilion, and will host to soccer and baseball leagues this summer.
‘We have opened the park that, to this date, was part of the Stonegate development,? said Lisa Sokol, Orion Township community programs director, noting no signage was in place. ‘Jessie Decker was an instrumental is starting the history of Lake Orion and Orion Township.?
According to the Orion Township Historical Society, Jesse Decker came to Michigan from upstate New York with his wife, Mary, in 1825.
The couple homesteaded in the place that soon became known as the Decker Settlement, which grew into a bustling commercial center with a sawmill, a tavern, post office, general store, blacksmith shop, school and cemetery.
In 1830, Jesse Decker raised the first frame barn in the area with the help of local Indians.
Five years later, a group of settlers gathered in his home and formed a township.
At Decker’s suggestion they named it Orion, and elected him the township’s first supervisor at an annual pay of $2.
Decker was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1837, and also served as postmaster and justice of the peace.
By 1840 he operated one of the first taverns in Orion Township and owned 440 acres of land.
‘Do we really want to call (the park) ‘Stonegate? after a subdivision across the street that’s kind of bankrupt, and after all the problems we’ve had,? said Supervisor Matthew Gibb at the April 5 township board meeting. ‘Or do we want to get it some memorial recognition??
Gibb explained why the item was added to the evening’s agenda last-minute.
‘On Good Friday I started to get some emails, where I found once again more vandalism and more damage (occurring at the park),? he said. ‘Port-a-Pottys pushed out into the middle of the park, signs broken off and thrown on top of the picnic pavilion, remnants of (tire tracks) in the fields, fences bent.?
But the park, he said, gets vandalized because it’s not being used.
Immediate plans included topsoil to fix damage to the fields.
‘This is a new plan to say ‘Enough, the park is opened it’s going to be used,? Gibb said.
Trustee Neal Parter also liked the idea of naming the park after Decker.
‘It’s an excellent idea,? he said. ‘Two of the Decker boys gave their lives for this country.?