On a cool and breezy Saturday morning, members of the County Board, the County Manager, County Parks staff, and Lyon Park neighbors gathered at Zitkala-Ša Park to celebrate its opening.

The October 23rd event was made all the more special with the attendance of three of Zitkala-Ša’s descendants who flew in to attend the ceremony. Holly Bonnin Ogle, great-granddaughter of Zitkala-Ša and two of Holly’s children, Elizabeth and Justin, attended the opening ceremony. Arlington’s poet laureate, Holly Karapetkova, wrote a poem entitled Vanishings for this event. A framed copy of the poem was presented to the family by Thora Colot on behalf of the County and our civic association.

After the celebration at the park, Gary and Kit Putnam, who live in Zitkala-Ša’s old house, provided the family with a tour of the home and hosted them for lunch. Special thanks to the neighboring Wu family for providing cupcakes at the ribbon cutting – it was a welcome and tasty surprise!