LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Just south of the Chickasaw Loop, seven days a week, you'll see foam sprayed onto cars and a man with a smile.
"Every time we have good weather I always do good business," John Patterson said, wiping down the rims of a Mercedes.
He's been cleaning cars since he was 15 years old. And he was there at Chickasaw Park on Saturday.
"It was a beautiful day, crowded," he said, though he left around 7 p.m.
Around 9 o'clock that night, the park was still crowded. In a matter of seconds, shots broke through the silence and hundreds started to run.
According to the Jefferson County Coroner, the shooting killed 17-year-old David Huff and 28-year-old Deaji Goodman.
UofL Health confirmed four more were taken to the hospital. As of Monday, one person was discharged and three remained in fair condition.
"We don't do that in Chickasaw Park," Rhonda Ramsey Finney told WHAS11 News.
She would know; Finney is one of nearly 20 people literally writing the book on Chickasaw Park set to come out this year.
She and her co-authors gathered at the park to talk with us Monday.
They talked less about a place and more about an idea, a symbol for their community.
"We just thought Chickasaw Park was the biggest and best thing in the world," Leborah Goodwin said.
David Kimbrough added, "This was a wonderful gathering place!"
Lynn McCrary described a history of excellence in athletics. She noted a young Cassius Clay chasing kids onto the school bus, the only clay tennis courts in Louisville, and T-ball team started by Elmer Lucille Allen.
"A refuge - is what I would call it," Finney added.
It's been that way since the 1920s when the Olmsted Firm designed Chickasaw Park to be the largest park specifically for Black people in Louisville. Through segregation, it served as a safe gathering place for Black Louisville. It stayed that way when the park was desegregated in the 50s.
"And we think that can continue for the next generation and generations to come," Finney said. "We just have to focus on that and work at that."
Mayor Craig Greenberg is also taking a step to keep the park safe.
"After visiting with community stakeholders in Chickasaw this weekend, I have decided to increase the proposed funding for new lighting at Chickasaw and other parks," he said in a statement.
Finney described what the park has meant for her, and her son. She said every time he visits Louisville, he spends time at the park reconnecting with his family and friends.
"Don't be afraid to come down here," she emphasized.
From the river, to the tennis courts, to the crowds, to the folks washing cars in the parking lot; the park continues to offer Louisville a gathering place.
Finney said that's an important part of solving the gun violence issue, bringing more people to the park to talk, play, and grow on common ground.
► Contact reporter Tom Lally at TLally@whas11.com or on Facebook or Twitter.
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