One member of the Benton Harbor Economic Development and Parks Committee has a proposal for use of city parks throughout the summer.

Speaking to the committee this week, member Jerry Edwards said he’s organizing a series of Summer Games to be rotated throughout several parks. Edwards said Hull Park, Union Park, Broadway Park, Jean Klock Park, City Center Park, and Charles Yarbrough Park have all received work in recent years and should be put to good use.

“If you just sit there, there’s a such thing as called dry rot,” Edwards said. “So what we do by not having activities in there, not only does it dry rot our parks, it also dry rots our community, our social gatherings.”

Edwards said not only will holding the games bring neighbors together and foster a spirit of community, but it could familiarize residents with their parks so people feel like they have a stake in them. He’s proposing games like cornhole, croquet, spades, dominoes, chess, jump rope, and volleyball to be played, tournament style, at the parks throughout the summer.

Edwards said the only costs the city might incur would be related to parks maintenance.

The games would be at a different park each day, so one day they might be at Hall Park and the next day they might be at Jean Klock Park.

Edwards said the next step is to go speaking to some sponsors and begin organizing, with some games possibly starting this summer. Committee chair SaTanna Warren told him the Summer Games sound like a “great idea.”

The committee took no action on the proposal.