In the mid-1980s, Joyce’s aunt, Mollie Joyce, gave the property to Sacramento City Unified School District to be used as an Outdoor Education Center – but stopped using the center several years ago. The school district’s agreement with the Joyce family stipulated that if the district ever quit using and maintaining the property, it would revert back to the Joyce family to be donated for an Amador County park. In the meantime, generations of Amador County kids have played Little League games on the 2 ball fields built by the Upcountry Lions Club there.

Now that the property is secured, ACRA director Tracey Towner-Yep says there will be a public planning process to get upcountry residents’ input on how to develop the rest of the park. On the short list, Towner-Yep says, “ACRA is hoping to open a dark room, build trails, add a ropes course, and continue to work with Little League East on making the ball fields second to none in three counties.”  The Mollie Joyce property is the second park property acquired by ACRA – the first was the Sutter Creek Lions Club park, almost 7 creekside acres on Sutter Creek-Volcano Rd.