LOCAL Houston | The City Guide JUNE 2016 | Page 47

FOOD | ARTS | COMMUNITY | STYLE+LEISURE “WHO WAS...?” TERRY HERSHEY TERRY HERSHEY PARK Therese “Terry” Tarlton Hershey Photography courtesy of American Academy for Park & Recreation Administation Photography courtesy of www.energy-corridor.blogspot.com | By Wolfgang Houston West By Carla Valencia de Martinéz IF ANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN WATCHING THE SHOWTIME HIT BILLIONS, YOU KNOW IT’S NOT EASY TO HAVE A BUILDING OR ANYTHING FOR THAT MATTER (EXCEPT YOU FIRSTBORN CHILD) NAMED AFTER YOU. IN THIS COLUMN WE WILL BRING TO LIGHT THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PARKS, BAYOUS, BUILDINGS, ROADS AND PUBLIC WORKS AROUND TOWN. THERESE “TERRY” TARLTON HERSHEY is the woman after whom TERRY HERSHEY PARK is named. If anyone has fulfilled her destiny almost organically, it’s Hershey. A fierce conservationist who campaigned to keep the banks of Buffalo Bayou from being paved, Hershey’s views reached not only local levels, but national ones as well. In the ’60s she became aware of flood control measures along the Buffalo Bayou, on whose banks her home was located. Measures included straightening and concreting its banks. Hershey’s environmental concerns led to her presenting the case to local congressmen and subsequently Congress where she would come before Congressman George H. W. Bush. Years later Hershey would be appointed to many of his environmental boards. The experience led to the creation of the Bayou Preservation Association that still advocates for the city’s bayous today. Hershey would be appointed to countless boards, committees and commissions tasked with conservation and environmental concerns. She is also a founder of the National Wildflower Center in Austin launched by Ms. Lady Bird Johnson. Nature and the preservation of the bayou weaved its way throughout Hershey’s life, creating a true force of nature to be reckoned with. Terry Hershey Park is a public park on the west side of Houston consisting of a network of hike and bike trails that run along Buffalo Bayou from Highway 6 to the Sam Houston Tollway. www.terryhersheypark.org june 16 | L O C A L 47