HomeMy WebLinkAboutPATTERSON - BRISON PARK SUPPORT LETTER 713 Park Place
College Station, Texas
29 September 2024
Texas Recreation and Parks Society,
I have lived one block from Brison Park since 1980. When I first moved there, I was delighted to discover that my over-the-back-fence neighbor was Mrs. Vera Brison. I fondly recall
many hours of conversations with Mrs. Brison as she reminisced about living in the home she and her husband Fred Brison (for whom the park is now named) built in 1928. Mrs. Brison was
by then physically frail – she was in her mid-80s -- but mentally she was still alert and bright. I wish I had taken detailed notes or even recorded her. She told of the very earliest
days around the park, when it was both the physical and social center of a tiny community that would eventually become College Station. Children played in the park; neighborhood picnics
were held in the park. People gathered in the park in cool evenings to discuss neighborhood events, as well as local and national politics. Since 1980 I have visited the park several
thousand times, in all seasons and all weathers. Rarely am I the only person enjoying this green oasis of peace and serenity. As it was in 1928-29, so today the park remains the center
and anchor of College Station’s oldest neighborhood.
A small creek (a branch of Bee Creek) runs from one end of the park to the other, roughly northwest to southeast. Through heat and drought and changing climate, I have never seen the
creek run dry; there is always a stream of water. The family from whom I bought my property reported that they had lived there since 1964, and they had never seen the creek dry either.
This creek forms a natural wildlife trail: residents in the area routinely see cottontail rabbits, armadillos, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, and dozens of species of birds throughout
the park. Minnows and crawfish are seen in the water. Occasionally someone is lucky enough to spot foxes (both red and grey), coyotes, and now and then even a bobcat, patrolling along
the creek banks.
Since the 1920s, a huge academic campus (Texas A&M University) has grown up across the street from the north end of the park. In the 1970s and early ‘80s, we took our freshman Botany
and Plant Taxonomy classes to the park to examine the plants. But now that our enrollments have increased so much, we no longer do that, fearing that too much traffic might damage the
landscape. Students now visit the park on their own, and not a day passes that I do not see young people there, singly or in groups, strolling, sitting, studying, quietly talking, enjoying
the surroundings. And the students love the park as did those early residents in the ‘20s. I myself have witnessed (from a respectful distance) 2 marriage proposals (one on Billy Goat
Bridge, the other under the massive oak tree that stands on the park’s east edge) as well as a small wedding ceremony and countless photo sessions marking upcoming weddings, graduations,
and other life events. People young and old seem to regard the park as a special place, a place where you must go when some special life event occurs or a ceremony is to be held. Memories
have sprouted and taken root there, and will continue to do so far into the future.
Those of us who now live close to the park, as well as those who knew it in its younger days, feel that the park has established its own legacy, its own importance in what College Station
was, and is today, and what the community will become in the future. Therefore, it is only fitting that Brison Park should be officially recognized as a Lone Star Legacy Park of Texas.
Much more could be said, many more tales and legends could be recounted, but this letter must come to an end. If I can provide additional information, please contact me.
C.O. Patterson
Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology
Texas A&M University