To Joy Payne, the Vann Park neighborhood “is just the sweetest little part of town,” and it’s been enriched by two recent additions: a pavilion available for activities and a sign dedicated to a cherished late resident.
The Vann Park Neighborhood Association raised $7,500 to build the pavilion and found partners in the JD Sheth Foundation, Evansville Parks Foundation, architect Sarah Schuler, Boyd Electric, local sheet metal workers, and Kight Home Center.
“We wanted to have a central covered location where we could set up a microphone and be the focal point of the park,” says Payne, vice president of the neighborhood association. It’s already shown its value by hosting the Bunny Bonanza Easter egg hunt, yoga sessions, and neighborhood meetings this spring. It will be the epicenter Oct. 17 for the Neighbors Fest; launched in 2021, the day of family fun has become a signature event for Vann Park.
Along Vann Avenue, a new sign honors Susan Haynie, the longtime real estate agent who was slain Aug. 27, 2025, at her home two blocks away. The sign is one of many that have gone up in city parks; Vann Park’s was sponsored by former mayor Lloyd Winnecke and his real estate agent wife, Carol McClintock, both longtime friends of Haynie.
For Payne, the sign and the pavilion reflect the neighborhood’s vibrant embrace of community, which Evansville Living spotlighted in the November/December 2025 issue. They “enhance what was already there, which was already really nice,” she says.
