13-Year-Old Comes Up With Name for Park

After months of seeking suggestions from residents to name the new $2.3-million sports park at the former Kinoshita Farm, it took a seventh-grade student to come up with the winning title.

Thirteen-year-old Jennifer Stinett, a student at Marco F. Forster Middle School, ended up coining the winning--and common sense--title for the 18-acre park: the San Juan Capistrano Community Center and Sports Park. It was one of 70 ideas reviewed by city officials.

For her contribution, Jennifer will be recognized at the park’s grand opening ceremony on July 4, said Sharon Heider, open space project manager for the city.

“She was pretty excited about the whole thing,” said Jennifer’s mother, Cindy Stinett.

After unanimously approving the new name on Tuesday, the City Council then authorized spending $14,562 for the park’s grand opening celebration, which will include sports contests, exhibition games, children’s activities, music, food and fireworks.

“We’re trying to make it a grand party for the whole community, because they’re the ones who built the park,” Heider said. She said that were it not for residents’ approval of a $21-million bond measure in 1990 to buy open space, the park would never have been built.