Brits, Americans feud over world`s smallest park

Portland: The British and the Americans are quarrelling tongue in cheek over territory again, this time over who has the world`s smallest park.

One, in Portland, Oregon, is essentially a concrete planter, 0.6 meters in diameter, with soil and some vegetation, and the Guinness Book of World Records says it`s the smallest. he other is about 8,050 kilometres away, in England. They don`t claim to have a physically smaller park, theirs is 4.5 meters by 9 meters. But they dispute whether Portland`s is a park at all. What started as two Brits` stunt to drum up publicity for a charity run at their park sparked some cross-pond banter. One online commenter wrote, "If that`s a park then my window box should take the title." Someone who said they were from Portland replied, "Yes, but our park has leprechauns. Does yours?" Leprechauns? That`s right. The faux feud has helped unearth the curious story of a Portland newspaper columnist`s quest to get the park declared the smallest and his claim that it was home to leprechauns. The tale goes back to 1946, when Dick Fagan returned from World War II. From his office at the Oregon Journal newspaper, he could see a hole in the street where a light post was supposed to be erected. Fagan got tired of looking at the hole and planted flowers in it. An Irishman with a vivid imagination, Fagan wrote about the park in his columns spinning tales about leprechauns who lived there. Somehow, Guinness proclaimed Mill Ends Park the world`s smallest park in 1971. Jamie Panas, the record-keeper`s spokeswoman, said she didn`t know how that determination was made. But she said the entry in the Guinness database reads, in part: "It was designated as a city park on 17 March 1948 at the behest of the city journalist Dick Fagan (USA) for snail races and as a colony for leprechauns.” Snail races? That`s right. Snail races. Over the years, Portland has been kind to the tiny park, giving it equal care as that afforded to the 200 or so normal-size parks scattered around the city. St Patrick`s Day ceremonies have been held there. It has plants and other vegetation. Strange objects have appeared mysteriously within it — a miniature swimming pool with a diving board, a tiny Ferris wheel and a UFO. The Occupy Wall Street movement, those protesters against income inequality, gave the park some recognition. In December 2011, a small group put miniature protest signs and toy tents in the tiny park and held a protest. One protester was arrested for refusing to leave. And now, Portland`s littlest park is getting big headlines. It started with a British sports management company called KV Events, based in Lichfield, north of Birmingham. It was promoting the "world`s shortest fun run”, around Prince`s Park in Burntwood. The park has the Guinness title of the United Kingdom`s smallest park. It has a fence, a bench and three trees. It was founded in 1963 to commemorate the marriage of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, to Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Promoters Paul Griffin and Kevin Wilson decided to have some fun, launching a faux challenge to Portland`s claim — figuring that would generate publicity for the race and for the charity the race is intended to benefit. PTI