Ledger photo / LARRY HILLIARD Longtime city councilman and mayor Johnny Little shares a laugh with well-wisher during Friday's ceremony to name a park in his honor. Who would guess that a man with the "common" touch would emerge as one of the city's most influential and beloved public servants?

But when it's Johnny Q. Little, nothing is a stretch.

Dressed in khakis, a checkered shirt and a straw-colored hat and sitting alongside his wife and three grandchildren, Little had a park, located yards from his College Drive home, named in his honor during a 30-minute ceremony Friday morning.

Mayor Henry Jolly praised his friend for his 34 years of service as mayor and councilman.

"By unanimous consent, council decided to honor this city servant by naming a passive park in his honor," Jolly said. "I declare that this corner be named and maintained the Johnny Q. Little Park."

Little's son and Cherokee County Councilman, Quay Little, reminded the large gathering of friends and local political dignitaries that it was appropros to choose that setting for the park because it's where his father, as a youth, "got his political feet wet" by engaging in lively conversations with the patrons and owner of a former general store that was located on the park site.

Little took that love of public service he learned at that store to make a difference in people's lives, his son said. As mayor, Little worked with federal and state officials to build a sewer line that stopped the Cherokee Finishing plant from cutting jobs.

"My father's contributions to this community have been enormous," Quay said.

Dr. Quincie Little Moore, Little's oldest child, got a laugh from the crowd when she said her daddy "has been described as a number of things."

"...self-employed businessman, father, city treasurer, Sunday school teacher, husband, World War II veteran, mayor, alderman."

Then, she got teary-eyed when discussing her father's soft side.

"But the best description of him is as a public servant for the City of Gaffney," she said. "He is truly about the people of this community. He is only interested in making the community better to raise a family and earn a living.

"He's a common man," she added. "He never bought himself anything expensive. That's the trait that I admire most about him."

City Administrator James Taylor said Little was instrumental in his life.

"I learned a lot about public service from Johnny," Taylor said. "I learned how to be a true public servant from Johnny. Black or white, rich or poor, everybody had access to government through the doors of Johnny's service station."

Now everybody has access to, as Jolly put it, "the beauty and serenity" of Johnny Q. Little Park.