Mayor Thallemer’s recent “From the Mayor” column (June 2, p. 5A) highlighted many assets of the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department. I’d like to add one more: the personnel.
Larry Plummer heads and directs one of the best staffs in our community. Every employee I encounter in the parks department is hard-working, enthusiastic, engaged, friendly, and polite. Throughout the year, the grounds of all of the parks are maintained by people who take pride in their work. It shows.
When calamity strikes, park personnel kick into action. I remember straight-line winds knocking down a row of trees along Arthur Street a few years back. Park employees were out early the next morning cleaning up the debris, repairing the destruction, and planting new trees.
Flower beds get planted every spring. Greenspaces are managed in summer. Picnic tables vanish in fall in preparation for harsh weather. Christmas lights illuminate Center Lake Park in winter. That’s the short list.
This could not happen without the leadership provided by Superintendent Plummer, Maintenance Director Shaun Gardner, Recreation Director Stephanie Schaefer, and Administrative Assistant Suzanne Stokes. This would not happen without the high-quality, dedicated employees throughout the department.
Our beaches, the outstanding new office building, a forthcoming new pavilion, paddleboard and kayak kiosks, Mantis Skate Park, tennis and pickleball courts, children’s programming, the “Touch-a-Truck” program, luaus and movie nights, the Biblical Gardens, and the summer concert series are all opportunities in which we should delight and for which we should be grateful. Kudos to Mayor Thallemer for calling attention to them. Kudos, too, to the leadership and staff who make it all possible.
If you use and enjoy the parks of our community, consider taking a moment to express appreciation to the folks who enhance your life in these ways.
