Clifton Owens moved to Waco 37 years ago from Washington, D.C., and it wasn’t long before he found a niche.

One of the original members of the Waco Bicycle Club, Owens helped establish Cameron Park’s popular trail system and has seen firsthand how the park has evolved through the years.

“I’ve been here since before it was popular,” he said with a grin. “I ride the trails so much I have a trail named after me — Cliff’s Cliff.”

“And I was here before that side was finished,” said his wife, Patsy, gesturing toward the east bank of the Brazos River. “I think it’s a positive change, all the improvements they’ve made.”

The Owenses still frequent Cameron Park, and they were at Pecan Bottoms on Saturday with hundreds of others to celebrate the 416-acre park’s centennial anniversary.

The celebration began with a parade from A.J. Moore Academy to Pecan Bottoms.

Dozens of people lined University Parks Drive to watch the procession of fire trucks, Boy Scouts, cheerleaders, horseback riders, local businesses, city officials and the University High School marching band.

The parade, bookended by Waco patrol cars, also featured Live Oak Classical School third-grade Spanish students performing the machetes dance — the girls twirling colorful skirts to festive music, the boys wearing greasepaint mustaches and carrying toy swords.

The atmosphere at Pecan Bottoms was carnivalesque, the green dotted with popcorn booths, bounce houses and balloon-animal artists.

As the Boy Scouts organized a scavenger hunt, the UHS marching band gave an impromptu concert that included a lively solo performance by its drum corps.

Park ranger Lanny French, patrolling the riverbank on horseback, said the park’s renaissance is because of strong community support.

In his 17 years in the park service, he has seen park attendence rise dramatically as increased policing checked criminal activity and money from the city’s $63 million bond election flowed into the park system.

“It is a gem for the city,” French said. “It’s just unbelievable that William Cameron deeded this to the city 100 years ago. Otherwise it probably would have been a housing development by now.”

At a noon ceremony meant to echo the park’s original dedication at Proctor Springs, 22 children from different Waco neighborhoods anointed the parking lot under the stage with water. Then Mayor Virginia Dupuy cut the ribbon to rededicate the park.

Later in the evening, the Waco Symphony Orchestra played a pops concert, followed by a fireworks show over the river.

Saturday’s celebration kicks off six months of special events in the park, including jazz concerts, disc golf tournaments and a holiday festival of lights.

R.W. Moore, 73, came to the centennial celebration to see the changes to the park he’d been reading about.

Moore played guitar in a few “hillbilly bands” when he lived in Waco in the mid-’60s. After the beer joints closed at midnight, he and other local musicians would move to a covered pavilion in the park, plug in their amps and play till dawn, he said.

“We didn’t make a lot of money playing,” he said, “But we had a lot of fun.”

For Waco native Marcena Hulsey, Cameron Park evokes memories of Easter egg hunts and birthday parties, and it’s where she and her husband, George Morales, now bring their 3-year-old to play.

Morales and his friends are avid disc golfers, she said, and their connection to Cameron Park extends beyond mere use.

“They pick up trash, they take care of the course, and in the process they take care of the park,” Hulsey said. “It’s our second home. If you can’t find us at home, you can bet we’re at the park.”

cwinchester@wacotrib.com

757-5743

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