• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

Son of legendary wrestler says he will find other way to honor his father

Posted: Sep 29th 2020 By: Shawn Singleton

During the City of Troy’s monthly Board of Alderman meeting on Sept. 21, several members of the community presented proposals to the board members for approval.

Most notable was a request from Leland Race to change Cherry Blossom Way, the name of the street where World League Wrestling headquarters is located, to Harley Race Lane, after his father, the late professional wrestler who made Troy his home nearly two decades earlier.

Though Harley Race is a legend in pro wrestling, renaming the street in his honor hasn’t been as easy a task as Leland Race thought it would be. After speaking to four business owners, three of them disagreeing vehemently, Leland Race announced to the alderman he would drop his request.

“I don’t want to be the source of any problems,” he said “I could find another way to commemorate my father.

“He really didn’t need the commendation, because he earned so many accolades on his own.”

Race said though the idea was unsuccessful, it was worth a shot to try.

“I come up with some hair-brained ideas – and none of them have to do with my old man most of the time,” he said. “I spoke to one of the alderman about the name change, and he said to go for it.”

The board then unanimously approved a request for permission from Tom Jakuboski to pave a parking lot over the right-of-way at the 100 block of South Lincoln Drive. Jakuboski is finalizing the purchase of the building that currently serves as the Lincoln County Democratic Party Headquarters until after the election.

A retail pharmacy will be opened on the site, and City Attorney Jesse Granneman will draw up paperwork for Jakuboski to legalize the agreement.

Kevin Bishop also spoke to the board about improving the bridges and roads of the city, which he said could bring more businesses to the community. The lifelong resident offered to do his own research as no cost to the city to develop a road plan.

Alderman asked Bishop several questions about costs, as well as the areas affected throughout the city.

Ideas for federal grant money to complete potential projects were also discussed during the session.