More than 300 fans come to celebrate Tom Petty's birthday with a dedication to the park | New

With a handkerchief tight in her hand and tears ready to flow, Kathy Smith said she was moved to be surrounded by a community of Tom Petty fans.

"It's so good to be with people who understand, it's been very hard since last October," she said.

Smith, a 53-year-old school principal from Morris, New York, made a pilgrimage to Gainesville to travel to the city for the dedication of Tom Petty Park at 400 NE 16th Ave. Smith has been listening to Tom Petty's music since the 1970s.

"I had to be able to live where he lived, where he grew up and most of all to feel that love of everyone," she said.

Smith and more than 300 people attended the opening ceremony at the park, formerly known as Northeast Park, in honor of Tom Petty's 68th birthday. The park was a place frequented by Petty and his younger brother, Bruce Petty.

"It was a place where we escaped, where we were kids and where we had fun," said Bruce Petty.

Before the park's red sign with Tom Petty's name and photo was revealed, Mayor Lauren Poe, Bruce Petty and Tom Petty's daughter, Adria Petty, gave speeches.

In deciding to commemorate the Gainesville rockstar, Poe said the city was considering other options, such as a statue, but that his legacy meant more than a statue and that he felt the park was the ideal solution.

"It's there that he spent his childhood," Poe said. "This is where he was with his friends and where he escaped and was immersed in the Gainesville experience of the seventies."

Adria Petty said that fans and locals welcomed him. Fans around the world have greatly facilitated the difficult process of his death.

"Gainesville is a great place, and if you listen to my dad's music, its meaning has a different meaning," she said.

Fans from across the country, many of whom are members of Tom Petty Nation, a Facebook group founded by Keith Eveland, have come out, he said. The 54-year-old Panama City superfan said the group has grown to more than 33,000 since its inception five years ago.

"It's really touching to see how many people are in contact with that," he said. "I have the impression that when I created it, Tom sprinkled some magic dust."

Cindy Lou Safar, 60, a member of the Facebook group, drove eight hours by car from Gretna, Louisiana, with her husband and 40 kilos of plastic beaded necklaces that she distributed to fans. She wanted to bring something special after reading in the group that others were going to donate pins and handmade jewelry.

She became a fan of Tom Petty's music when she began listening to her after graduating from high school in 1976.

"It just grabbed my heart," she said.