Ribbon cutting ceremony honors longtime community servant

TYLER, Texas — The Tyler Parks and Recreation on Thursday celebrated the naming of the ballfield at Fun Forest Park in honor of community leader Rev. Ralph Caraway Sr. with a ribbon cutting.

The field is being named in honor of Caraway’s years of service to youth sports and the community. In February, the Tyler City Council approved a request from the North Tyler Youth Baseball and Girls Softball Association to name the previously unnamed field in honor of Caraway.

Caraway is the senior pastor of St. Louis Baptist Church in Tyler, the Smith County Pct. 4 commissioner and team chaplain for the Tyler High football team.

He was the former president of the youth baseball league that once played at Fun Forest Park and has spent years coaching, working in the concession stand and serving on the youth baseball board.

“Well, I think the great thing about it is to have coached a generation and now see that generation come back and start coaching again. It’s a powerful investment. It’s a repeat investment, it’s a generational investment, and I think it’s something that we need to keep doing,” Caraway said.