Milwaukee County Parks has announced a ribbon cutting ceremony at the newly named James W. Beckum Park, 911 W. Brown St., on Thursday, April 26 at 10 a.m. in celebration of the donations and funding put in place by national, statewide and local organizations.

A portion of Carver Park that is north of Brown St. was renamed James W. Beckum Park in March of 2012 in honor of all the hard work and success James Beckum has provided to the park since creating the Beckum-Stapleton Little League in 1964.

The community and the surrounding area have all benefited from the efforts of Mr. Beckum and his leagues for inner city youth by holding true to his mantra and mission "To promote, develop, supervise and voluntarily assist in all and lawful ways, the interest of those who will participate in Little League and Softball."

Nationally, Chevrolet began the Diamonds and Dreams program in 2010 to help provide young ball players with an opportunity to play on a "dream" baseball field in their hometown.

At the 82nd annual All-Star Game in 2011, as an extension of Diamonds and Dreams, Chevrolet announced that as MVP of the game, Prince Fielder would be able to select an organization that could put the donation toward improvements of inner city youth baseball fields. Prince Fielder, while working with the Brewers Community Foundation, selected Milwaukee County Parks as the recipient.

Beckum Park was selected for the award because of the immediate impact it would have in field improvements for the Beckum-Stapleton Little League which has been in existence since 1964.

"This gift from Chevrolet is one that will truly keep giving and we are gracious that Milwaukee was selected as the recipient for improved playing conditions for our youth," Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said.

In addition, Milwaukee County Parks in partnership with the Milwaukee Brewers, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and the City of Milwaukee will plant 30 trees in the park to commemorate Arbor Day and coincide with the improvements that are taking place with the Chevrolet donation.

The tree plantings are part of the Root, Root, Root for the Brewers campaign that donated 150 trees in 2012 to be planted in communities that surround Miller Park. The campaign, invests in one tree for every projected 20,000 tickets.

"We are thrilled to have all these organizations pull together for the common goal of raising the bar for our youth athletic programs," said Sue Black, Director of Milwaukee County Parks. "Mr. Beckum has done a fantastic job over the years in bringing positive life changes that contribute to the youth of this community".