Dan Nicholas didn’t just give the land for Dan Nicholas Park. He gave the vision for it, also, persuading Rowan County Commissioners to invest in their citizens’ recreation and enjoyment of open, green spaces. For that reason, the park out on Bringle Ferry Road should always bear his name.

But the idea that the park’s name could be expanded to better communicate its rich offerings merits investigation. Surely Nicholas himself would favor anything that would bring more people to enjoy the park of which he dreamed.

An entrepreneur of the pre-dot.com days, Nicholas became wealthy through hard work, ingenuity and salesmanship. He found success in everything from popcorn machines to horses and orange groves.

He spread his good fortune around in the community. After seeing children play in a community park in Roanoke, Va., in the mid-1960s, he came home with the idea of starting something like that here.

He approached the city of Salisbury with the idea of opening a park on 100 acres on Bringle Ferry Road. City officials balked at the idea of having a park outside of town —an ironic note, with the city now investing millions in a park on Hurley School Road.

Nicholas added 200 more acres to the tract where he envisioned the park and finally convinced Rowan County Commissioners — with the help of a steak dinner —to accept the 300-acre total as a gift from him.

That was 1967. Nicholas died three years later at the age of 64. But his vision for a large, beautiful park has lived on and grown. What started with a lake and a few picnic shelters now includes a carousel, miniature golf, a nature center, a miniature train and a host of other attractions.

Judy Randall of Randall Tourism Marketing suggested to the Rowan County Convention and Visitors Bureau last week that —among the many things that could bring more tourists here —the county take a second look at Dan Nicholas Park’s name. Almost every county has a park, but no one has one quite like Dan Nicholas Park. Its name should communicate more of that uniqueness, she suggested.

That sounds like good salesmanship, something which Dan Nicholas surely would have understood.