Getting history, and spelling, correct

In the grand scheme of things, it's a small expenditure: $64,000 for new signs to unify the appearance of the entrances of all Columbia County parks.

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It's a good idea, too. With parks among the more-demanded uses of the county's sales tax funding, it only makes sense to make them as easy as possible for residents to find and use. Setting a standard for signs is a relatively inexpensive way to accomplish that aim.

But please, please: Can someone make sure the spelling is correct?

Someone didn't. And now a little superfluous "S" sticks out like a sore thumb on the new sign for Eubank Blanchard Park near Appling.

The goof is reminiscent of the now-corrected erroneous additional "s" on the name of Gen. Wood Parkway, which for a time was called "Gen. Woods Parkway" until The News-Times noted the error. Fortunately, no signs had yet been made, and the cost for the fix was negligible.

This time around, the new sandblasted Eubank Blanchard sign is already erected. Correcting it will require either painting over the unneeded "s" on each side of the sign, or chiseling it off altogether. Either way, the sign will be less than perfect.

What's needed around here is perhaps a little more attention to historical detail. The Eubank Blanchard Community Center was dedicated 12 years ago. It is located at the crossroads of Pierce Gordon Blanchard Memorial Highway and Ray Owens Road - roads named, respectively, for an early Columbia County physician and a former state lawmaker.

John Eubank Blanchard was a respected farmer and civic leader in Columbia County, who died in 1970 at the age of 92. The Eubank Blanchard Community Center, and now the adjacent park, are named in his memory.

Apparently, lots of people in the county think the facility is named for two people. The facility often is hyphenated and misidentified as "Eubank-Blanchard" or "Eubanks-Blanchard." Either way, there is no "s" - except on the sign now erected in front of the park.

Let's get it right, shall we?