Name the Lillian Recreation Center after Willie Nell Evans
Name the Lillian Recreation Center after Willie Nell Evans
The Issue
We are the family of Willie Nell Evans, her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and the hundreds of people whose lives she touched during her 90 years in Lillian, Alabama.
We are asking you to sign this petition to help us honor her the way she deserves: by naming the Lillian Recreation Center on U.S. Highway 98 in Lillian, Alabama after the woman who helped make it a community institution.
She Was Lillian
Our mother and grandmother, Willie Nell Evans, was born on February 23, 1931, and she never left Lillian. She lived her entire life in Lillian, just steps from the Recreation Center, and she poured every year of her life into the people around her. She passed away on August 11, 2021, at the age of 90, and was laid to rest at New Mt. Marriah Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery, right there on Highway 98, in the community she loved until her last breath.
She raised 12 children in Lillian. Her family has grown to over 200 descendants across five generations. Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have all spent time at that park on Highway 98, making memories that still live in our hearts today. That park was part of our lives because of her. She was part of that community because she chose to be, every single day.
She Fed the Forgotten for 51 Years
Over 51 years ago, our mother had a vision: that the special needs community of Baldwin County deserved a warm, joyful Thanksgiving celebration. Together with the Optimist Club of Perdido Bay and other dedicated community members, she helped bring that vision to life. What began as a heartfelt gathering to make sure special needs students and their families experienced the joy of a real Thanksgiving meal grew into something far greater than any of them imagined.
Year after year, they showed up. Year after year, they cooked and served and celebrated together. And every year for 51 years, that tradition continued.
What started as a community act of love became the Annual ARC Thanksgiving Luncheon, one of Baldwin County’s most beloved traditions. Today it serves hundreds of special needs students, adults, teachers, and aides from schools across the entire county. In 2025, the event celebrated its 51st year of service. Our family, alongside the Optimist Club of Perdido Bay Foundation, carries this tradition forward every year in her memory, because that is what shewould have wanted. She never did it for recognition. She never asked for anything in return. She simply saw people who needed to feel loved, and she helped make sure they did.
Her Legacy Is Already Written
My Community Mentors, Inc. established the Willie Nell Evans Scholarship in her honor, awarded to young people who demonstrate community service and a commitment to giving back. Because that is exactly what she modeled, every day, for 90 years.
The Optimist Club of Perdido Bay Foundation publicly honored her memory, calling her “a legend of our community.” (Optimist Club of Perdido Bay Foundation, November 2021) A colleague who knew her through the Elberta school community wrote in her memory: “She was such a kind and Godly lady. I respected her so much.”
Everyone who knew her says the same thing. She was the kind of person who made you feel like you mattered.
Why This Park Belongs to Her
The Lillian Recreation Center was established in the late 1980s by community members who believed Lillian deserved a place where families could gather and children could grow. Our mother was one of those people. She lived right down the road. She was part of making it happen. Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have played on those fields for decades.
The park is now being renovated and renewed by Baldwin County. There is no better moment, and no more deserving person, to give this park a name that will last for generations.
Please sign and share this petition. Help our family show the Baldwin County Commission that this community stands behind honoring Willie Nell Evans. Help us make sure that every child who plays at that park for the next 100 years knows the name of the woman who helped build it.
She gave everything to this community. Now we are asking the community to give something back to her memory.
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The Issue
We are the family of Willie Nell Evans, her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and the hundreds of people whose lives she touched during her 90 years in Lillian, Alabama.
We are asking you to sign this petition to help us honor her the way she deserves: by naming the Lillian Recreation Center on U.S. Highway 98 in Lillian, Alabama after the woman who helped make it a community institution.
She Was Lillian
Our mother and grandmother, Willie Nell Evans, was born on February 23, 1931, and she never left Lillian. She lived her entire life in Lillian, just steps from the Recreation Center, and she poured every year of her life into the people around her. She passed away on August 11, 2021, at the age of 90, and was laid to rest at New Mt. Marriah Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery, right there on Highway 98, in the community she loved until her last breath.
She raised 12 children in Lillian. Her family has grown to over 200 descendants across five generations. Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have all spent time at that park on Highway 98, making memories that still live in our hearts today. That park was part of our lives because of her. She was part of that community because she chose to be, every single day.
She Fed the Forgotten for 51 Years
Over 51 years ago, our mother had a vision: that the special needs community of Baldwin County deserved a warm, joyful Thanksgiving celebration. Together with the Optimist Club of Perdido Bay and other dedicated community members, she helped bring that vision to life. What began as a heartfelt gathering to make sure special needs students and their families experienced the joy of a real Thanksgiving meal grew into something far greater than any of them imagined.
Year after year, they showed up. Year after year, they cooked and served and celebrated together. And every year for 51 years, that tradition continued.
What started as a community act of love became the Annual ARC Thanksgiving Luncheon, one of Baldwin County’s most beloved traditions. Today it serves hundreds of special needs students, adults, teachers, and aides from schools across the entire county. In 2025, the event celebrated its 51st year of service. Our family, alongside the Optimist Club of Perdido Bay Foundation, carries this tradition forward every year in her memory, because that is what shewould have wanted. She never did it for recognition. She never asked for anything in return. She simply saw people who needed to feel loved, and she helped make sure they did.
Her Legacy Is Already Written
My Community Mentors, Inc. established the Willie Nell Evans Scholarship in her honor, awarded to young people who demonstrate community service and a commitment to giving back. Because that is exactly what she modeled, every day, for 90 years.
The Optimist Club of Perdido Bay Foundation publicly honored her memory, calling her “a legend of our community.” (Optimist Club of Perdido Bay Foundation, November 2021) A colleague who knew her through the Elberta school community wrote in her memory: “She was such a kind and Godly lady. I respected her so much.”
Everyone who knew her says the same thing. She was the kind of person who made you feel like you mattered.
Why This Park Belongs to Her
The Lillian Recreation Center was established in the late 1980s by community members who believed Lillian deserved a place where families could gather and children could grow. Our mother was one of those people. She lived right down the road. She was part of making it happen. Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have played on those fields for decades.
The park is now being renovated and renewed by Baldwin County. There is no better moment, and no more deserving person, to give this park a name that will last for generations.
Please sign and share this petition. Help our family show the Baldwin County Commission that this community stands behind honoring Willie Nell Evans. Help us make sure that every child who plays at that park for the next 100 years knows the name of the woman who helped build it.
She gave everything to this community. Now we are asking the community to give something back to her memory.
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on June 11, 2026