We are saddened to share the news that Tally Sweat, Park Pride’s founding Board President, passed away on August 27th.
While many of you may know about Tally’s connection to Park Pride, you probably don’t know the whole story. Although Tally was a longtime advocate of the environment, parks became her passion when she was asked in 1986 to co-chair a parks advisory committee of civic and corporate leaders by Betsy Baker (Mayor Andrew Young’s Commissioner of Parks).
This role inspired Tally to dedicate her energy to making a real difference in Atlanta’s parks, and when the committee’s work concluded, she enlisted several of her fellow committee members to form a non-profit, Park Pride Atlanta, Inc. which was incorporated in 1989. Tally continued to work closely with the City of Atlanta and secured their contribution of office space at Garnett Station as well as the “loan” of a city planner Carolyn Henry (Rader) to serve as Executive Director for a year (until funding was in place to hire staff). In May of 1991, Tally hired Allison Ickes (Barnett) as Park Pride’s first staff person. She quickly learned that Tally was a force of nature, she had an incredible talent for making things happen. Her charm, determination and persistence were instrumental in securing a base of government, corporate and foundation support.
Under Sweat’s Leadership, Park Pride was asked to staff Mayor Maynard Jackson’s Green Ribbon Committee, providing administrative support for the development of the 1993 Atlanta Parks, Open Space and Greenways Plan. During Tally’s tenure, we served as administrator for the development of the Olmsted Linear Parks Master Plan. After completing her term as President of Park Pride, the newly formed Olmsted Linear Parks Alliance asked Tally to serve as board president where she led the successful campaign to implement the master plan for the restoration of the treasured greenspaces along Ponce de Leon.
Tally always wore many hats, and she remained engaged with Park Pride throughout her life. We will miss Tally and are grateful for her many contributions to Park Pride as well as her dedication to parks and greenspaces throughout Georgia.
Click to read more about Tally’s incredible life and legacy.