Trouble with that logic? It's not a community park at all. It's a private field that belongs to St. Mary's, and the church has every right to lock out the public—especially a public that has ignored the church's request to keep dogs off the field that St. Mary's children use for sports and recreational activities.

St. Mary's has actually been a rather considerate neighbor through the years and has generously allowed the local residents use of the field for their activities. All church officials have asked was that dogs be kept off the grass.

And how did the public respond to that generosity? By ignoring the "no dogs" sign posted at the facility and allowing their dogs to run loose on the field. Dog waste left in the grass was becoming a health and safety issue.

For many years, the playing field across from the school was a barren patch of dirt where St. Mary's children ran and played. At the end of a physical education period it was not uncommon for many of the youngsters to head back to class with cuts and bruises, torn trousers and dirty white shirts after a session on the dusty, rocky lot.

It was only about 25 years ago that grass was planted to give the schoolchildren a safer and cleaner playing field. The conditions drastically improved for the St. Mary's kids.

A byproduct of the improvement to the athletic facility was that the neighborhood gained a new "community park" that the area residents immediately adopted for their own use.

The church was more than willing to share the facility with the stipulation that residents keep their dogs off the grass. They didn't, so earlier this year St. Mary's was forced to fence in the field. And when that proved not to be enough, the church was forced to lock the gate.

Now some residents claim that they've lost their community park. But the fact is, they haven't lost anything at all—because you can't lose what you never had. All the neighbors had was access to an area that was never theirs in the first place. Now St. Mary's has locked up the field to protect the children of the parish—and the neighbors have only themselves to blame.

Back in 1970, there was a rocky, dusty empty lot across the street from the private school, and no one was claiming it as a community park. Only after St. Mary's made improvements to the facility did it become an attractive destination for neighbors.

Well, it's not a park—it's a field where schoolchildren play. It took many years and much hard work on the part of St. Mary's volunteers to get the grass planted on the lot. And the parishioners did it to create a playing field for their children—not a neighborhood dog run.