Dennis Morgan and Two Strike Park

Do you ever have a film star that you so enjoy that you will watch anything he or she is in? I’ve got a lot of them. Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Judy Garland, William Powell, Humphrey Bogart…I could go on and on. As I delve into the world of classic film I find more and more stars whose movies I’ll watch no matter how bad they may be. One of my most recent adds is Dennis Morgan.

Dennis Morgan

After first discovering him in Christmas and Connecticut I’ve gone more and more down the rabbit hole of his filmography. Often relegated to “nice guy” roles he nevertheless starred in a number of films during the 1940’s and 50’s including several collaborations with his best friend (and another one of my favorites) Jack Carson.

1949:  Jack Carson (1910 - 1963) the Canadian comedy actor with American actress Doris Day in a scene from the film 'It's A Great Feeling', directed by David Butler for Warner Brothers.  (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Eager to know more about the friendly star I delved a bit into his backstory and discovered something quite interesting. In 1949 he founded Two Strike Park in the city of La Crescenta and a quick google search led me to discover the park still exists today. Recently, I visited the park to see it in person.

IMG_4076

Two Strike Park was dedicated July 4, 1949 by Morgan, La Crescenta’s “honorary mayor.” Morgan felt that a child playing in the street already had two strikes against him and the third strike could be getting hit by a car. Wanting to ensure that children did have a safe place to play he started a series of celebrity baseball games to raise funds for a park and was eventually able to donate 5 acres of land to create one. The county added another 31/2 acres and Two Strike Park was born.

IMG_4067

Today it’s a lovely area in the heart of a La Crescenta neighborhood and includes a war memorial dedicated to those we’ve lost in various conflicts around the world.

IMG_4077

IMG_4062 IMG_4066

While the memorial is a lovely tribute the remainder of the park is very much kid focused. There’s not one but three different playgrounds. On my visit there were several children having a grand time playing. And, of course, there’s a baseball diamond.

IMG_4073

Two Strike Park is a wonderful testimony to Dennis Morgan. I’m so happy it remains a vital part of the community to this day.

 

5 Comments

  1. Jeannette Golden February 4, 2019 at 12:47 pm

    Did you see any kids sliding down the hill on cardboard boxes. That was the best. Grass sledding.

    1. Melanie February 17, 2019 at 6:23 pm

      I wish I had!

      1. Robin February 2, 2021 at 9:33 pm

        My sister and I have SUCH fond memories of sliding on cardboard down the hills at Two Strike Park in the late 1970s! Epic fun!

    2. Bob Mc Donald November 8, 2021 at 3:38 am

      We did that around 1961-62.

  2. Bob Mc Donald November 8, 2021 at 3:39 am

    We did that around 1961-62.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.