About 70 people recently gathered to dedicate a pavilion located in Charles A. Brown Park in Crystal City.
The pavilion was named after and dedicated to Sidney Brown, the brother of the late Charles A. Brown, after whom the park was named years ago.
Sidney Brown is a longtime Crystal City resident who served on the Crystal City Planning and Zoning Commission, the Jefferson County Habitat for Humanity Board, the Mount Zion Cemetery Committee and the Douglass School Alumni Association.
He said he did not realize the pavilion was being named after him until he got to the dedication event on Sept. 18.
“Words cannot express it,” said Brown, 89. “This all is a surprise to me.”
He said he appreciates the honor all the more since the pavilion is in the park named after his brother, who died in 1990.
Sidney Brown, who lives across the street from the park at High Street and Lincoln Avenue in Ward 1, is retired after working at Dow Chemical for 30 years.
When Brown was a teenager, he worked for Crystal City.
“I worked for the city when I was 16, during summer break from school,” Brown recalled.
Tom Schilly, the city’s former mayor and now a member of the Crystal City Park Board, led the pavilion dedication.
Schilly said Brown deserved the honor because he has long devoted his time to Crystal City.
“I can’t say enough about this gentleman,” Schilly said. “On behalf of Mr. Brown, I would like to dedicate this pavilion. It’s for his contributions to the city.”
Brown was clearly touched.
“I’m just glad and proud to see all of you here,” he said.
A new sign bearing the words “Sidney Brown Pavilion” recently was attached to the pavilion, which previously was built in the park.
Brown and his late wife, Shirley (Mosby) Brown, were married for 69 years before her death in 2017. They have two daughters, Audrey Mitchell, who lives in Texas, and Valerie Brown Taylor of Herculaneum, as well as three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.