Heritage Park now includes Dola's Rose Garden

Dola Cress, a long-time Fort Scott resident and 30-year member of the Fort Scott PRIDE organization, is all smiles on Wednesday after being honored by friends and local organizations for the many hours of volunteer work she has given to the community over the years. Cress was recognized with a plaque featuring her name that was placed in a rose garden in Heritage Park on the corner of First and Main streets. Joining Cress for this photo are Fort Scott Middle School PRIDE sponsor Joyce Davenport (left) and a group of FSMS students involved in the PRIDE program.

Long-time Fort Scott resident Dola Cress might have never been promised a rose garden, as the popular 1970 country song said, but her name now graces one in Fort Scott.

Staff and clients of Tri-Valley Developmental Services, representatives of the Bourbon County Master Gardeners organization, several members of the Fort Scott PRIDE program, and other friends of Cress surprised the 30-year PRIDE member and community volunteer on Wednesday by naming a rose garden in her honor at Heritage Park, on the corner of First and Main streets .

The roses were planted by Fort Scott Middle School students involved in the local PRIDE organization, which is part of a larger volunteer grassroots effort to improve the quality of life in local communities. Since 1970, the Kansas PRIDE program has assisted and encouraged communities to prepare for the future by building on their past and forming a vision of the future.

Cress, a leader among community volunteers in Fort Scott for many years, has now received the recognition she greatly deserves, Cress' friend Janet Braun said.

The organizations, along with a group of FSMS PRIDE students, gathered on Wednesday to honor Cress and recognize her for all of her work over the years in the community and for her service in the PRIDE program. Twelve-year-old Austin Sheldon, a seventh grader at FSMS, may have said it best when he presented Cress with the honorary plaque.

"We'd like to thank you for all the PRIDE work you've done," Sheldon said.

After she received her plaque, the small crowd shouted, "Thank you Dola!" in unison.

TVDS horticultural therapist Barbara McCord, who was present at the event, said the thousands of hours of work Cress puts into the community include helping with a TVDS picnic in June, the twice-weekly Farmers' Market, and the annual Farm, Home and Garden show presented at Fort Scott Community College.

"There's almost nothing in Fort Scott that she's not a part of," McCord said. "All these years, she hasn't missed a beat."

Cress has also spent time, over the years, working with the Bourbon County CARE organization, which supports people with developmental disabilities. She has benefitted many TVDS clients by serving, helping out, and staying active in their community.

After the Wednesday event, Cress said she was surprised, yet overjoyed with receiving the honor and stressed the importance of PRIDE to young people in a community who represent the future.

"I'm in a total state of shock," she said. "I've been in PRIDE for more than 30 years -- it gives all these students something to accomplish and teaches them about volunteer work and not getting paid."

"It's overwhelming," Cress said of the turnout and show of respect Wednesday. "These PRIDE kids are really great."