Panamint Park renamed Venner Park

This information was published on the front page of
the Desert Dispatch on Wednesday, May 30th, 2012:

BARSTOW • Barstow Heights officials renamed Panamint Park in honor of local resident William Venner over the weekend.

Venner died in March 2011. He once worked part-time for the Barstow Heights Community Services District and also worked as a teacher and administrator at various Barstow schools.

Even when he was not employed by the agency, Venner was dedicated to helping clean up the park, which he lived across the street from, Board President Dick Jacobs said.

“He always tried to get the graffiti off the day after it happened,” Jacobs said.

The board had been thinking of ways to honor Venner since his death, Jacobs said, and someone proposed renaming the park.

The agency installed a plaque indicating the park’s new name.

The community services district maintains two parks in the Barstow Heights neighborhood through a contract with the city of Barstow.

On Monday, May 28th (memorial day) at 10am, the Barstow Heights CSD Board of Directors held a rededication ceremony at the park located at Panamint and K street in Barstow Heights. There was a barbecue celebration provided for the public afterwards.