This gorgeous park was predominantly the work of one man, Frank Stevens, gardens supervisor from 1992 to 2010, aided by a crew of volunteers. The 3.8-acre site is listed at Tourism PEI as
PEI's Largest Municipal Gardens. Among the features to be found within the gardens is this relief of three sea captains who lived in Georgetown for much of their lives, brothers Captains John, Edward and Nelson Dicks. Apparently a book, "
The Rum Runners", was written about their rum running exploits during the prohibition years. A bit of biographical information on the brothers can be read below.
The relief is done on two sides of a large block of Island sandstone, with John on one side and Edward and Nelson on the other. In one of the reliefs is a cask of rum, an obvious allusion to their more infamous years as sea captains. The sculptures can be found in AA MacDonald Memorial Gardens, just off the north end of the parking lot immediately east of King's Playhouse.
Also in the gardens are a plethora (over 60) of flower beds consisting of 15,000 annual plants and hundreds of perennials, many shrubs and trees, most donated in honour of various citizens, Canada's largest ship's wheel, a lighted pond with a cool lighted fountain in its centre, a pair of schooner anchors, pergolas, benches, picnic tables, the town's cenotaph and several commemorative plaques.
Around 1888, Captain Henry Dicks (1839-1904) came to Georgetown from Burgeo, Newfoundland. The 1901 Census indicates he was then residing in Georgetown with his wife, five sons, a niece, a granddaughter, and a grandson. Tragically, Captain Henry Dicks lost his life in 1904 when his dory flipped over in a storm near Labrador.
In 1904 [the house at 13 Richmond Street, Georgetown was sold to] Captain John Dicks (1874-1966), one of Henry's sons. He and his brothers, Edward and Nelson Dicks, all worked as sea captains, engaging in coastal trade especially in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Captain John had been born in Labrador and earned his captain's papers at a young age. During his many years at sea, he commanded a variety of ships from three-masted schooners to large steamships. He was commander of one of the Royal Canadian Navy's drifter ships during World War I. These were used during naval convoys and took him to the Straits of Gibraltar.
During the Prohibition years, when rum running between PEI and the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon occurred, John and his brother Edward acted as captains of one of the most famous vessels involved, the Nellie J. Banks.
When the first ferry, the Charles A. Dunning, was established in 1941 between Wood Islands, PEI and Caribou, NS, Captain John was in charge. Later that year, he survived the attempt by a German U-boat to torpedo the S.S. Prince Edward Island ferry between New Brunswick and PEI during World War II.
From Historic Places Canada