Colonel John R. Byers Park Dedicated in Mount Vernon

Friends and family of John R. Byers gathered recently to unveil a sign marking the renaming of Williamsburg Manor Park in honor of this civic-minded citizen who worked tirelessly as a member of the Fairfax County Planning Commission and other committees and commissions for more than 40 years.

Pictured from the left are Mount Vernon Supervisor Gerry Hyland, Park Authority Board Member Linwood Gorham, Park Authority Director Kirk Kincannon, Ms. Susan Byers and other members of the Byers family. More than two dozen people attended the ceremony and several spoke warmly of the late Mr. Byers contributions and personality.

For more than two decades John Byers served as the Mount Vernon District Representative to the Planning Commission. During his tenure, he was instrumental in shaping land use policies. His ideas about preservation of environmentally sensitive land, the need to dedicate and construct community and regional parks, and the value of historic preservation and interpretation became codified in the Comprehensive Plan.

With these good works in mind, the Fairfax County Park Authority Board renamed the park on November 13, 2013.