The community of Sandspit honoured the Jones family at a ceremony Saturday night (March 24), thanking them for their gift of just over three hectares of land.
The property covers the land where the community hall sits, and also includes the ball diamond, the tennis courts and the fields where Sandspit holds its annual Logger Sports Day event.
Moresby Island Stability Initiative member Gord Usher said the gift will allow Sandspit to consider future developments like an extended care facility for seniors, a day care, or a seniors centre.
"It opens up possibilities," he said. "It might make it a little more attractive for people moving to the community."
The land was owned by a succession of logging companies, and the community has been trying for years to get them to donate the land for a park, Mr. Usher said. But those efforts came to nothing until the J.S. Jones family took over the logging operation.
"They're good citizens," Mr. Usher said, adding that the Jones also do other things around town like paying for the street lighting along a stretch of Beach Road.
The Jones brothers asked the community to name the park in honour of their father, Jack Sheldon Jones. Tom Jones and his daughter April Choquette attended the ceremony Saturday night at the Sandspit Inn, which was also the occasion of the community Christmas dinner. The dinner had to be delayed because of water damage to the inn in December.
The dinner and ceremony were organized by the Moresby Island Stability Initiative.