Fifteen years ago the late June Alexander led a fight to prevent homes from being destroyed and to save a park in Kennedy Heights.At 2 p.m. Sunday the small park at Montgomery Road and McHugh Place will be named in her honor.

"This honor is well deserved," said Phyliss Pierce of Kennedy Heights, who worked side by side with Alexander.

"She was a magnificent lady with a mind like a steel trap. She was . . .a people person who was always trying to promote good projects for Kennedy Heights" that would benefit the people."

The Cincinnati Recreation Commission is naming the park the June Alexander Park to honor her civic work.

Pierce said Alexander would often pick up trash in the parking lot at McHugh and Montgomery and report graffiti problems to City Hall.

"She had a soft spot for the integrity of the neighborhood. I only saw her cry once," Pierce said. "That was when the city chopped down a row of sycamore trees along Kennedy Avenue."

Alexander said in a council meeting then that chopping down the trees destroyed the heart and soul of Kennedy Heights.

Alexander was born in Lexington and graduated from the University of Kentucky. She was an employee of the U.S. Treasury Department. She died in 1998.

Thirty-six inner-city children will walk barefoot in grass and sleep in rustic cabins Sunday when they start Camp Ernst in Burlington.

The kids, ages 6 to 15, are being sent to the camp by the Strauss & Troy Make a Difference Team, a community service group of the downtown law firm.

The camp is spread over five weeks. Activities include swimming, arts and crafts, hiking, horseback riding, boating, rock climbing, camp fires, overnight outdoor camping, an obstacle course and other group events.

Each week's trip will accommodate six to eight children.

Jon Perry, camp director, said the kids will meet others from around the country.

The Make A Difference Team raises funds to help pay for the program by holding Dress Down Day every Friday.

For more information, call Marsha Weaver-Butler, (513) 621-2120 or Perry, (859) 586-6181.

Sunday is the Famous Faces Charity Art Auction to benefit the Michelle Wallace Family, a single mother with eight children who lost their house twice in two years to fire.

Joe Nuxhall, Cincinnati Reds sportscaster, will be guest auctioneer from 6-8 p.m.

The auction will be at Miami University Hamilton, in the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center, 1601 Peck Blvd., Hamilton.

For more information, call 844-2787.

Allen Howard's "Some Good News'' column runs Sunday-Friday. If you have suggestions about outstanding achievements, or people who are uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at 768-8362, at ahoward@enquirer.com or by fax at 768-8340.