June 19, 2025 • 33 mins
Derrick Griffitts brings a fresh perspective to Shelby County Parks and Recreation, transforming Kentucky's hidden outdoor treasures into accessible adventures for everyone. As a 25-year PGA golf professional who now directs the entire 960-acre park system, Griffiths shares his unique vision for connecting community members with nature's wonders.
The conversation reveals surprising gems scattered throughout Shelby County's three major parks and four mini parks. From the professional-level disc golf course at Red Orchard Park to Lake Shelby's expanding RV camping facilities, these spaces offer more than just recreation—they provide genuine adventures. Griffiths describes personal discoveries made while wading through Clear Creek with his nine-year-old son, including a collectible amber 1910 Coca-Cola bottle and potential Native American artifacts, showing how history lives beneath the surface of these natural spaces.
Technology meets tradition at the golf center, where PGA Tour-level TrackMan simulators engage children with interactive games like Mystic Pond, where players hit animated creatures from virtual water hazards. Meanwhile, the Red Fern Riding Center partnership at Shelby Trails offers guided horseback tours through beautiful woodlands, creating memorable experiences for visitors of all ages.
The parks system truly shines in its community impact, hosting 885 games annually with 2,000 youth participants across multiple sports leagues. Griffiths shares moving stories of seniors finding renewed purpose and improved health through park activities, especially after retirement or illness recovery. "Parks can give people their life back," he explains, highlighting how these green spaces foster essential social connections.
Exciting developments are reshaping the parks experience, including a new website and mobile app for streamlined registration, a revitalized Family Activity Center with arcade games and sensory play elements, and a $150,000 grant-funded transformation of Little Heroes Playground with ADA-compliant recycled rubber surfacing. Plans for a music festival at Red Orch
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Welcome to Kentucky Hidden Wonders.
I'm Jeanette Marson and I'mMason Warren.
Together, we're uncovering thesecrets, stories and hidden gems
of Shelby County, Kentucky Fromunforgettable places to
off-the-beaten-path adventures.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Join us as we explore Kentucky treasures and Shelby
County's best-kept secrets.
Our guest today is DerekGriffiths, who is the director
of parks for theShelbyville-Shelby County Parks
and Recreation.
Thanks for being here.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Welcome, Derek.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Glad to be here, ready for an exciting podcast.
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
So let's jump right in with your background, kind of
what led you to this point inyour career, and have you always
worked in parks and recreation,or you know what brought you
here?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You know I'll be honest with you.
I've always been in the if youwant to say, service industry
side of entertainment.
If you want.
But, I've been on the golf side.
You know all of my training asa PGA golf professional, which
I've been a PGA professional for25 years in the business since
27.
(01:26):
Well, actually now those yearsget away from me, so 26, 27.
And then I've been a PGA memberclass A professional since 2004
.
So my background is in thehospitality side of golf and
operations and that's just whereI've always had a passion for
(01:47):
golf and that's what brought meto the Parks and Recreation.
The Shelbyville-Shelby CountyParks and Rec was the first
municipal experience I had as ahead golf professional and just
from there, with my 18 years atthe parks as the golf
professional superintendent,it's grown now into a larger
(02:11):
adventure, into the other partof parks and rec.
So now I'm in a new adventurewith parks and rec.
I'm still working with golf andthat's still part of my part of
my bag at uh in my position.
But now we're into differentthings.
We're into the other side ofwhere I can add value and we can
add value to our community fromthe standpoint of kayaks and
(02:34):
playgrounds and uh yoga classesand athletics and and all those
things.
So, uh, my path's a littledifferent, started, started on
the green grass and it is now,went to a little taller green
grass.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Well, I have to say golf is super important to
tourism.
Here Research shows us.
It's like in that top 10 thingsthat people like to do.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
It is a destination activity, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Absolutely so.
I was saying that our show name, of course, is Kentucky Hidden
Wonders.
So tell us a little bit aboutmaybe some hidden gems that your
park system has, that our parksystem has.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, you know, the one thing about our parks
department is we are so broad inthe various things that we do,
the various things that we do.
Some of my, some of my favoriteadventures really are you know,
my son and I will go downaround the streams in Clear
Creek, whether that's around thelake and we have a.
(03:35):
We have a lot of folks that RVcamp and and, and you know more
tent camping, but we like to getkind of out in the creeks.
I know there's kayaks that somefolks do and we've got those
available for rental and allthat.
So there's adventures on thewater.
That's definitely a uniqueadventure at Parks.
Some of our other facilities,such as our Redford Riding
(04:04):
Partnership out at Shelby Trails, that is definitely a hidden
gem that's getting to be morewell-known definitely.
There's not many that do guidedtours, especially in that sort
of environment, and they do aphenomenal job out there.
Justine and her crew, it'swonderful.
That really is a hidden gem.
Most folks don't know whereTodd's Point is, but if they can
(04:25):
make it out there they'llremember it for sure.
So aside from that, we've gotat our golf facility now.
We've added an indoor simulator.
That's something unique to alot of facilities.
In addition we have a covereddriving range, automated ball
machines, so we're sort ofgetting into the self-serve side
of golf.
It's a nine-hole executivewhich.
(04:48):
There's probably threeexecutive golf courses in our
region so we really have sort ofthat quick round of golf that
gives all the elements tobeginners, to folks that stay
busy and their schedule a littlemore compact, and to some of
our seniors that still like toexercise.
So I'm a golf center guy so Icould talk about how unique and
(05:12):
wonderful our golf center is.
But from our simulator to ourpractice facilities, just how
the course is set up is a gemthat most people don't really
know.
That's there.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
That simulator.
Oh my goodness, it's cool, verycool.
It's cool, very cool.
And talk a little bit about howkids can use that simulator.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Sure, sure.
We partnered, or the vendorthat we went to for that product
was TrackMan.
Trackman is the leader in golfsimulation, whether you see it
on the PGA Tour or LPGA Tour orseniors.
You're going to see TrackManbeing sort of used as the tech
side and we're able to bringthat inside and into our
(05:57):
facility.
Thankfully, through some of oursupport with Shelby County
Fiscal Court and ARPA grants, wewere able to make that possible
and with the kids they can jumpin and play desert cartoon
games.
And in golf we're alwaysworking to train.
(06:17):
When it comes to how far you hitthe ball and the direction you
hit the ball, those are reallythe two variables that you
there's a lot more people makegolf a lot more complicated
sometimes than it is, but that'sokay, that's uh, that's part of
the challenge and part of theadventure.
But really, with the kids werereally focused on the how far
you hit it and the direction youhit it.
So the in these games there'slike a pinball um sort of um you
(06:41):
know format.
There's a um's a I want to saycandy crush.
There's where you take offlight colors and you try to
collapse the columns.
Really, the one that's probablythe coolest is called Mystic
Pond, where there's thesecreatures that they can hit out
(07:02):
of the pond if they hit it theright distance or the right
direction.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
I think that's the one I was seeing.
I think I would be playing that, even though I'm not a kid.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Coming out of lessons , and up until I took this
director's position, I wasconducting 300-plus lessons a
year private lessons withindividuals and probably 40% of
those were children under 15years old, and they loved it.
They loved getting in there.
I mean, it was almost thecarrot that you dangle for doing
(07:31):
what they're supposed to doduring the lesson.
Well, if you do this and we hitthat sign or we hit this disc,
we're going to play thesimulator, and they just love it
.
It is very interactive andthere's a nice sitting area
leather calf for parents to toset watch groups of three, four,
three is what I recommend, fouris available, but a safe spot.
(07:52):
We've now got ice cream in thepro shop, so, okay, you know all
kinds of things are going onthere.
So it's a really cool vibe withthe simulator and then, if you
just want to see the ball fly,you can step right out back and
let it fly.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
So now this is still on golf, but one of the most
surprising things I had foundout was that we have a pro
frisbee golf course.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
We do, which is amazing.
Yes, we have a disc golf courseat Red Orchard Park and you
know, I've been told I'm not adisc golfer, I'm a
traditionalist.
I follow the white ball and notthe Frisbee, but I've been told
that it's a lengthy course.
It is a challenging course.
That's what we've heard too, andso we've hosted some events
(08:36):
there in the past.
You know most of these eventsare with partners that put on
the events.
They're not hosted per se byour parks department but in
conjunction with our parksdepartment.
But you know it's a popularsite for the disc golfers, so
I've pledged that I'm going tothrow a round of disc golf this
(08:58):
year.
But we'll see there's too many.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I've tried it.
You think that?
Speaker 3 (09:01):
there's just one disc , but they have multiple discs.
It's three or four or five,you've got the driver, and then
this and that.
So I'm still waiting to learnwhat's going on with that, but
at any rate, and you hadmentioned camping, of course,
lake Shelby.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Another hidden gem is the full hookup.
I think you've got at least onesite that has full hookup,
which is amazing.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Well, we have, I believe, six.
Oh my goodness, I believe wehave six that you can rent that
have the full hookups.
We've got 10 available for RVsand we're hoping to add more.
That would be something we'dlove to see ongoing.
We're working in a sort ofconstraints with space down
there and making that next stepto have more availability.
(09:52):
And we've got a little entranceissue that we're working on to
make sure we can accommodate allthe sizes of RVs and things
coming in.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Maybe some flood mitigation.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
There is a little bit of water thing that we are
working on.
Thankfully our city is reallyon top of that, mayor Eddington
and the public works crew it isactually a city road coming into
our camping area and so theyoversee that and have really
helped us mitigate some of thosewater issues Well that's what
(10:22):
we definitely need morecampsites.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
People are crazy for camping.
Yes, yes and very popular.
If I remember right, you had awaiting list and everything.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Right, we've got plans for four.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
In the near short term.
Okay, Beyond that, we're stillin the stages of figuring out
how Well exciting.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Well, so Changing gears just a little bit.
The park hosts all kinds ofsummer camps and leagues and
things like that, but are thereany unique events that are
coming up at the parks that youwant to talk?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
about.
Here's the thing we are goingthrough.
Like any new administrationcoming in, I see things that
I've noticed for a number ofyears that I would like
differently, and now we're inthat spot we're able to start
making those changes.
It's very exciting and we'vegot some exciting things on the
horizon, like very, very, verysoon we're going to have a new
(11:14):
website where folks can actuallyregister online, pay online,
fill out the waiver online.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Excellent, that is good.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
So we could actually do camping sites.
We can do, we just do.
Multitude sponsors can even goon there and and and and on
there and pledge their supportfor some of those events and
activities.
We have an app that's going tobe coming out in conjunction
with that, hopefully.
I'd love to see it work in kindof geocache a person where they
(11:41):
know where they are inconjunction with different
fields or even different partsof the city and things like that
, because we always getquestions about directions
Where's the next place to go eat?
Where can we do this?
And we have some that are thereall day, so it would be neat if
our app is going to be able toshow them where they can just
(12:02):
pop in.
You're here, here's the nextplace to go get something to eat
in downtown or whatnot, butthat's coming out very, very
soon, excited about that, ofcourse, our leagues are in full
swing Baseball's rocking androlling, softball's rocking and
rolling.
Right now.
We're working to formulate somecamps because we're going to
(12:23):
get back to our roots, one ofthe things that I've noticed
I've always done a lot ofinstructional and that's been
one of the things with me as aparks department head.
I was still involved with theinstructional side of it, so I
was developing my own customers,and so I think with our parks
department, we're going to havea sort of a more of a focus of
developing our own players andtaking some of our beginners or
(12:47):
those that just want to get intointo at least youth sports and
provide camps, whether it'ssoccer, whether it's baseball,
whether it's volleyball um,we're, we're.
This year we'll be rolling out,I believe, one of those and then
targeting more as time goes by.
So, uh, very exciting thingswith all sports.
We've got some travel ballevents coming in.
(13:09):
I've got a big one at the endof June that's coming in, and
then they're coming back forsort of a second lap in
September.
So a lot of exciting things.
One thing that we have donetraditionally that we are taking
a little pause on this year.
We are going to take a pause onour Shake the Lake celebration,
(13:31):
our firework show, things likethat.
We've got some new plans wejust want to reevaluate.
There's a number of fireworkshows and it does get just a
number of factors that we'relooking at Expenses, one Sure,
making sure that we're providinga value that's unique for our
(13:51):
community.
We're actually looking at a latesummer, maybe early fall
festival at Red Orchard Park Ooh, fantastic.
And we can do a music festivaland have some various bands,
different genres.
I'd love to see a bluegrasselement over there.
I'm not a bluegrass connoisseur, but I appreciate the music and
(14:12):
the talent, Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
There's a lot of people who are though, oh yeah,
and it's such a strong Kentuckyconnection.
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
I think doing something like that, we want to
get sort of out of the cover.
Nothing against cover bands,but we kind of want to get out
of that.
I think we want to get to sortof unique music that's known in
our area and some local bands.
We're still testing that waterout and figuring out how we're
(14:41):
going to do it, but we'd reallylike to do that and work with
some vendors.
We've got such a strongpresence of the distilleries and
some other things that aredowntown.
Traditionally we're not able towork with those elements at
parks, but at Red Orchard we'rehopeful that we can sort of
define a new environment there.
(15:03):
We don't have sports leagues andyouth events over there, so
we're hoping, maybe, that we canhost some of these type events
at Red Jork.
Still, we've got playgroundsand we would have youth events
or youth activities, but moretargeted for the adult element.
Come in and appreciate thatstuff.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
That sounds very exciting, very exciting.
A minute ago you said a word,and it was geocache Exciting,
Very exciting.
A minute ago you said a word,and it was geocache what
reminded me of another hiddengem that the park has, and that
is geocaching.
So, for those listening,geocaching is an online treasure
hunt using your phone, and Ihad just looked up 40065, which
(15:44):
is where the park is located,and two power trails One is in
the shape of a duck and one isin the shape of a boat at Lake
Shelby Park.
So those of you who likegeocaching it's absolutely free
Go to geocachecom, put in that40065, and then do those
(16:05):
geocaches.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
So, anyway, that's my little tidbit and maybe, maybe
that wasn't exactly how it'sgoing, but I'm glad you brought
that up.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Maybe it's location, sir, I don't know what it is.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
You said geocache and I went, that's right you know
it's funny and and this is thisis I've got some unique stories
from that I'd love to shareabout parks and it's more my own
experience and not so much as aparks director or a golf
professional or anything likethat.
But one thing that I've beenvery fortunate to do at the
parks is to be able to findthese little rock club stones
(16:38):
that people will paint and leave.
Yes, and some of the mostunique I've had a beautiful bird
, you know, you're just.
I'm walking, I'm in my, you know, I just got finished mowing
greens, or I'm you know just gotfinished.
You know doing something, and myleast, the least thing I'm
thinking about is looking aroundfor rocks and all of a sudden a
(16:58):
rock catches my attention.
Yeah, and you go look at it andit's a painted rock from this
Shelby Rocks Club.
I think is who it is, and thelast one I found was a and maybe
I'm not as good as I should bein putting them back.
I just appreciate the art.
So I'll post them in the shopand let people see them, but it
was an American flag.
And it was striped and it waspainted, it was beautiful.
(17:20):
And then I found a beautifulbird one time and just you know.
So the of of parks and the vibe, uh, there's just all sorts of
elements where people are, aresort of engaging whether you see
them engaging or not, uh, withthings at the park.
I, my son and I use the park alot too.
This is my second story.
I'll tell you, my son and I usethe park a lot for, uh, our
(17:41):
adventures, like we'll metaldetect and we'll we'll go down
there's.
you know, unique history of thepark is um, and I want to be as
sensitive as I can because I'mnot exactly sure, but there was
an Indian presence quite a longtime ago and they found
artifacts in certain areas ofthe park.
(18:03):
I actually think I found ananchor in the creek.
It has an etched out hole in the.
It almost looks like a creekrock, a flat creek rock, but
it's got an etched out hole andI did all this research and I
think that it's something thatthey used to tie down either a
boat or something to stretch furor something Very cool, yeah,
(18:24):
but I'd love to send you thepicture of that.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Oh, I would love to see it.
I know like the listeners wouldprobably love to see it.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
So more hidden gems, just investigating on the trails
or whatever this was in, youknow, because there's like 19
miles of Clear Creek andsomething like that.
This was back.
You know they say the presenceof Native Americans mostly were
where kind of our amphitheateris and our softball area and
back towards Lake Shelby, whichmakes sense because there was
(18:52):
the body of water.
So it's just really neat to kindof tour around there and I know
people have kind of did theiradventuring back through there.
The other element my son and Iwill wait in the creek.
Sometimes We've got our waitersand most recently he and I
found a 1910 Coca-Cola bottlefrom Louisville and it's very
(19:15):
collectible and it was actuallyan amber-colored glass so it's
just beautiful.
I can't remember.
It's got the arrow design, it'sgot a circular arrow design on
it.
Yeah, and it's six and a halfpints.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Oh, that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Or six and a half ounce Six and a half ounce.
It's not an eight ounce.
For 12 ounces it's a six and ahalf ounce.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Right, just found it in a creek.
They made Coca-Cola verydifferently back then.
Yes, Very different recipe.
Yeah for those that.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
There was no Coca-Cola in it.
It was at the bottom of thecreek.
I know, yeah, but we do allthat.
We have found Lexington.
We found a Lexington Coca-Colabottle.
We have yet to find aShelbyville Coca-Cola bottle.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
And that's on his and I's.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, that's sort of on our list, our bucket sort of
list of what we want to find.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
We want to find a.
We'll find it in the wild,because we had that distiller or
we had that bottle here on thebottom has shelbyville.
So we're hopeful that thosethose waterways we found pepsi,
oh, 1940s pepsi bottles andthings like that.
So I really love getting outthere um, but there's just all
kinds of fun.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Well, so many places to visit and so so many hidden
gems to be found.
Yes, I know, in tourism we talkabout the quality of life, that
bringing outside money andvisitors into our community is
such a big deal.
But in your opinion, how ishaving a wonderful park system
(20:42):
like what we have, how is thatincreasing our quality of life,
bettering the community?
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Oh, wow.
I can speak with this more froma standpoint of being a golf
professional and what I've seenat the golf course.
I've had folks come in,especially our elderly, that are
just looking.
There's two things.
One they've either had medicalissues and they need to stay
active.
One they've either had medicalissues and they need to stay
(21:09):
active and nine-tenths of thetime I always get the story of
once they retire that they justset and life is they tend to
find, you know, medical issuespop up more readily.
But when folks will stay activeand keep that blood flowing
they tend to they definitelyimprove their life and so I've
(21:30):
had folks that have reboundedfrom, you know, just horrible
diseases such as cancer andthings like that and they're on
the rebound and they come outand they start walking.
They can play one hole this weekand the next week they're
playing three and before youknow it they're playing in
league and then they're back topractice.
So I feel like that parks cangive people their life back
sometimes and then next weekthey're playing three and then
before you know it they'replaying in league and then
(21:50):
they're back to action.
So I feel like that parks cangive people their life back
sometimes.
You know, and there's, you knowwe can look into, you know, our
water aerobics program.
We can look into some of theeven our master gardeners that
like to get out and work in thegardens, at parks, and it just
brings a life back to folkssometimes when they're in their
(22:11):
sort of second act, improvinglife.
In addition, you know, throughthe peer-to-peer sort of
interaction, there's a lot offolks that will not talk to
someone for a day or two orthree.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
But when?
Speaker 3 (22:26):
they get out, they just engage and just that five
to ten minutes of engaging withother people, because we're very
friendly.
I mean you don't see a lot offrowns at parks.
I mean everybody's usuallyintending to be there, unless
they're going to work out on atreadmill.
That's why we brought in theice cream up there.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
That's funny.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
After they get off the treadmill.
Usually we have smilesbeforehand.
But no, in all seriousnessthey're still friendly, and just
that positive interaction canmake a huge difference in
seniors' lives especially.
And then when we get to kids,adults, everybody's busy.
They're just running, running,running.
Hopefully that allows them toslow down a little bit and just
kind of breathe it in.
But the kids just most of it'sstructured around an activity.
(23:11):
It's structured around baseball, it's structured around golf,
it's structured around our youthcamps and after school and
things like that all the variousnon-athletic activities they do
and just hopefully it helpsbuild their integrity and their
honesty and their more charactertraits that are going to stick
with them.
So parks is uh like I said.
(23:33):
I think parks uh allows folksto either get their life back or
improve their life, and so it'svery good well, we are really
lucky to have such a great parksdepartment uh, and so speaking
of, and obviously you're thedirector of parks, but there's a
whole team that kind of makesall of this happen.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
So can you talk a little bit about some of the
behind-the-scenes things that?
People might find interesting.
There's a lot that goes intodoing the youth league of
baseball or whatever, so can youtalk a little bit about that?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
We have a phenomenal team.
Of course the team as we growcontinues to grow and you know
we have a, I guess.
To put it in perspective, ourpark system is 960 acres of
property.
It comes in three major parksand four mini parks.
We don't so much engage onproperty that's not ours but we
(24:28):
still are active in shows andsome chamber showcases and
things like that.
But on our park system we host885 games.
So when you start looking athow many games we have 2,000
participants over the course ofthe year that are in our youth
(24:49):
leagues and depending on whatthat is soccer, volleyball, fast
pitch, futsal, baseball, juniorgolf it takes a lot to keep
that going.
We do have a very vibrant andfull schedule.
Our athletics department isgreat.
We've just hired on a newathletics director, nick Ford.
(25:10):
He's from Shelbyville, has alot of roots here, has played
Division II ball and done somereally neat things in his career
, and so we're really thankfulfor having him and I think our
athletics department is going tocontinue to grow.
So that department is one ofseven.
(25:30):
Our aquatics department we haveTom Coons who's a well-known
coach and does really well there.
We have a lot of activity.
We have almost 40 lifeguardsthat are on staff, whether it's
the outdoor pool, whether it'sthe indoor pool Wow.
So, taking those things on,we've got a phenomenal
(25:53):
maintenance supervisor.
That's sort ofjack-of-all-trades.
We just continue to.
He's sort of long in his careerso we're wanting him to stay
around as long as we can.
But Earl McDowell does aphenomenal job and, of course,
our sort of our keystone withLeanne Wood.
She's sort of our.
She's the assistant parksdirector and office
(26:17):
administrator, and so you know,all of us work together.
We're not a real big crew.
We're more part-time andseasonal staff, but it takes a
lot.
We're really focused on ourmaster schedule and making sure
the communication is out there,so everybody's abreast of what
we're doing at parks and canschedule and hopefully they'll
(26:40):
see that in our app and andthings.
So, um, I've just got a got agreat crew.
Um, our youth services, um,jordan, uh, tetterton he is.
He is great at what he does, soI could talk about all of them
individually but we've got,we've just got.
We've just got everybody who'swho got, everybody who's just
(27:00):
been in it and are passionateabout it, and it shows in the
work that we do.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
If you want to take that adventure into parks,
please, Shelby County Parks,please come see us.
We'd love to see who the nextall-star is coming down the
track.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
You're probably always hiring, I bet somebody.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
There's always something.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Full-time, part-time.
There's always somethingFull-time, part-time, whatever
and you have kind of answeredthis question before.
But in your downtime, when youwant to relax, what is your
favorite thing to do at ShelbyCounty Parks?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
My downtime.
I guess I'm a mudder of sorts.
I think there's somethingcalled mudlarking.
I don't know, and that's sortof a hobby of things where
people will find stuff in creeksand mud banks and things like
that.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
I was thinking you were a birdwatcher and there was
a mudlark.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
No, I think it's called mudlark.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I've seen like magnet fishing.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Yes, oh, I have seen that.
Yes, so I'm an adventurer.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
I seem like magnet fishing.
Yes, oh, I have seen that.
Okay, yes, so I'm an adventurer.
I just like to.
I just like to get out.
My son likes to get out.
He's nine, um, and and I didwant to say that my wife is
phenomenal, my son is phenomenaland I've got a great support
system at home so it allows meto do a lot of these things and
be engaged a lot at parks, andwe all do have a big support
(28:19):
system.
So me getting out on my own andspending time at parks is I'm
very grateful to my, to myfamily, and they want to spend
some time there, even thoughI've been there for all week and
things like that.
So you know, my home, my homelife is, is is park devoted too.
So, I'm very grateful for thatand being able to get out and
(28:41):
wade through creeks and havesome fun.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Oh well, this has been fun and I can tell, and
Mason, like we've learned a lotabout those little hidden gems,
too, that the parks have.
But hopefully more people willcome out, more people will do
something new.
Maybe try Pickleball, if youhaven't ever tried Pickleball.
But thank you so much for beingwith us.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Absolutely.
And the last thing that I wouldmention is upcoming.
A big exciting thing that we dohave upcoming is we're going to
be revamping the FamilyActivity Center.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Oh, very exciting.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
And so we're going to put the activity back in the
Activity Center.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Okay, Very exciting, and so we're going to put the
activity back in the activitycenter.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Okay, you know, aside from everything that I'm sure
you all have delved into thegrant world and things like that
you know we're looking forfunding and working on some
different items, but we'relooking at moving our fitness
center up to our Walters Centerand creating a sports and
fitness center.
That's a collab with ourathletics department some of our
personal trainers Instead ofbeing separate.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
And then?
Speaker 3 (29:44):
moving our youth center down to our, our main
area in the lobby where we canhave more of a, a nursery
element in the front with somesensory sort of uh elements to
it to cater to different,different uh um learning styles
and things of kids.
but but I really wanted to putthat we're going to bring some
arcade games back, hopefullyinto the back part of the
activity center.
I'd love to one day find thefunding and this is sort of step
(30:08):
B or phase B to have anactivity patio in the back where
we can have shuffleboard,four-squared little concerts and
right you know, family movienights and things like that.
So we're really focused ongetting some activity back into
the activity center, um, and soI think that's going to be
something where you know we're,we're uh, and we take some notes
(30:31):
when we go to some of these biguh bolo ramas or right other
experiences and and we're tryingto bring a little of that
element to our, to our community, to make sure that that the
kids have someplace positive togo um, that they can, that they
can utilize those, uh, thoseelements.
So, other than that, the lastthing that I was going to say is
(30:52):
uh, we're very happy toannounce that we received a, um,
a very big grant from the statewith Environmental and Energy
Cabinet for a crumb rubberproject.
We received a $150,000 grant.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
And it's a matching grant, a 75-25 grant, that now
we're going to resurface theLittle Heroes Playground with
crumb rubber and recycled rubbermaterial.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
That's the handicap.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
It will be ADA compliant.
Ada compliant yes, so we'revery happy about that and we get
such traffic to that.
It's such a wonderfulplayground area, but it's
getting ready to go supersized,okay.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
That is excellent.
Ultra playground, fair, ultraplayground.
I love it.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
So we're very excited and thankful for that.
Hopefully all that work is doneby the end of the summer.
Okay and uh, we got all kindsof stuff going well your energy
is wonderful we, you're.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
You're going to be wonderful for the park, thank
you absolutely well, uh,anything else before we wrap up?
No, I said my last, last thing,so oh, we could go on, there
are so many parts to our parksystem that the interview could
go on, but we will not.
We'll cut it here.
Yes, indeed.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Thanks so much for being on this.
No, thank you all for having me.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
This has been Kentucky Hidden Wonders.
Thank you to Derek Griffithsfor coming on the show and thank
you for listening.
If you've made it this far,make sure you subscribe and
leave us a review.
We'll return with a brand newKentucky Hidden Wonders episode
in two weeks.
Bye everyone.
Kentucky Hidden Wonders is aShelby KY Tourism production.
(32:34):
Your hosts are Janet and MasonMoore.
To learn more about Shelby KYTourism and to start planning a
visit, head to visitshelbykycom.
Welcome to Kentucky Hidden Wonders.
I'm Jeanette Marson and I'mMason Warren.
Together, we're uncovering thesecrets, stories and hidden gems
of Shelby County, Kentucky Fromunforgettable places to
off-the-beaten-path adventures.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Join us as we explore Kentucky treasures and Shelby
County's best-kept secrets.
Our guest today is DerekGriffiths, who is the director
of parks for theShelbyville-Shelby County Parks
and Recreation.
Thanks for being here.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Welcome, Derek.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Glad to be here, ready for an exciting podcast.
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
So let's jump right in with your background, kind of
what led you to this point inyour career, and have you always
worked in parks and recreation,or you know what brought you
here?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You know I'll be honest with you.
I've always been in the if youwant to say, service industry
side of entertainment.
If you want.
But, I've been on the golf side.
You know all of my training asa PGA golf professional, which
I've been a PGA professional for25 years in the business since
27.
(01:26):
Well, actually now those yearsget away from me, so 26, 27.
And then I've been a PGA memberclass A professional since 2004
.
So my background is in thehospitality side of golf and
operations and that's just whereI've always had a passion for
(01:47):
golf and that's what brought meto the Parks and Recreation.
The Shelbyville-Shelby CountyParks and Rec was the first
municipal experience I had as ahead golf professional and just
from there, with my 18 years atthe parks as the golf
professional superintendent,it's grown now into a larger
(02:11):
adventure, into the other partof parks and rec.
So now I'm in a new adventurewith parks and rec.
I'm still working with golf andthat's still part of my part of
my bag at uh in my position.
But now we're into differentthings.
We're into the other side ofwhere I can add value and we can
add value to our community fromthe standpoint of kayaks and
(02:34):
playgrounds and uh yoga classesand athletics and and all those
things.
So, uh, my path's a littledifferent, started, started on
the green grass and it is now,went to a little taller green
grass.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Well, I have to say golf is super important to
tourism.
Here Research shows us.
It's like in that top 10 thingsthat people like to do.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
It is a destination activity, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Absolutely so.
I was saying that our show name, of course, is Kentucky Hidden
Wonders.
So tell us a little bit aboutmaybe some hidden gems that your
park system has, that our parksystem has.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, you know, the one thing about our parks
department is we are so broad inthe various things that we do,
the various things that we do.
Some of my, some of my favoriteadventures really are you know,
my son and I will go downaround the streams in Clear
Creek, whether that's around thelake and we have a.
(03:35):
We have a lot of folks that RVcamp and and, and you know more
tent camping, but we like to getkind of out in the creeks.
I know there's kayaks that somefolks do and we've got those
available for rental and allthat.
So there's adventures on thewater.
That's definitely a uniqueadventure at Parks.
Some of our other facilities,such as our Redford Riding
(04:04):
Partnership out at Shelby Trails, that is definitely a hidden
gem that's getting to be morewell-known definitely.
There's not many that do guidedtours, especially in that sort
of environment, and they do aphenomenal job out there.
Justine and her crew, it'swonderful.
That really is a hidden gem.
Most folks don't know whereTodd's Point is, but if they can
(04:25):
make it out there they'llremember it for sure.
So aside from that, we've gotat our golf facility now.
We've added an indoor simulator.
That's something unique to alot of facilities.
In addition we have a covereddriving range, automated ball
machines, so we're sort ofgetting into the self-serve side
of golf.
It's a nine-hole executivewhich.
(04:48):
There's probably threeexecutive golf courses in our
region so we really have sort ofthat quick round of golf that
gives all the elements tobeginners, to folks that stay
busy and their schedule a littlemore compact, and to some of
our seniors that still like toexercise.
So I'm a golf center guy so Icould talk about how unique and
(05:12):
wonderful our golf center is.
But from our simulator to ourpractice facilities, just how
the course is set up is a gemthat most people don't really
know.
That's there.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
That simulator.
Oh my goodness, it's cool, verycool.
It's cool, very cool.
And talk a little bit about howkids can use that simulator.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Sure, sure.
We partnered, or the vendorthat we went to for that product
was TrackMan.
Trackman is the leader in golfsimulation, whether you see it
on the PGA Tour or LPGA Tour orseniors.
You're going to see TrackManbeing sort of used as the tech
side and we're able to bringthat inside and into our
(05:57):
facility.
Thankfully, through some of oursupport with Shelby County
Fiscal Court and ARPA grants, wewere able to make that possible
and with the kids they can jumpin and play desert cartoon
games.
And in golf we're alwaysworking to train.
(06:17):
When it comes to how far you hitthe ball and the direction you
hit the ball, those are reallythe two variables that you
there's a lot more people makegolf a lot more complicated
sometimes than it is, but that'sokay, that's uh, that's part of
the challenge and part of theadventure.
But really, with the kids werereally focused on the how far
you hit it and the direction youhit it.
So the in these games there'slike a pinball um sort of um you
(06:41):
know format.
There's a um's a I want to saycandy crush.
There's where you take offlight colors and you try to
collapse the columns.
Really, the one that's probablythe coolest is called Mystic
Pond, where there's thesecreatures that they can hit out
(07:02):
of the pond if they hit it theright distance or the right
direction.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
I think that's the one I was seeing.
I think I would be playing that, even though I'm not a kid.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Coming out of lessons , and up until I took this
director's position, I wasconducting 300-plus lessons a
year private lessons withindividuals and probably 40% of
those were children under 15years old, and they loved it.
They loved getting in there.
I mean, it was almost thecarrot that you dangle for doing
(07:31):
what they're supposed to doduring the lesson.
Well, if you do this and we hitthat sign or we hit this disc,
we're going to play thesimulator, and they just love it
.
It is very interactive andthere's a nice sitting area
leather calf for parents to toset watch groups of three, four,
three is what I recommend, fouris available, but a safe spot.
(07:52):
We've now got ice cream in thepro shop, so, okay, you know all
kinds of things are going onthere.
So it's a really cool vibe withthe simulator and then, if you
just want to see the ball fly,you can step right out back and
let it fly.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
So now this is still on golf, but one of the most
surprising things I had foundout was that we have a pro
frisbee golf course.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
We do, which is amazing.
Yes, we have a disc golf courseat Red Orchard Park and you
know, I've been told I'm not adisc golfer, I'm a
traditionalist.
I follow the white ball and notthe Frisbee, but I've been told
that it's a lengthy course.
It is a challenging course.
That's what we've heard too, andso we've hosted some events
(08:36):
there in the past.
You know most of these eventsare with partners that put on
the events.
They're not hosted per se byour parks department but in
conjunction with our parksdepartment.
But you know it's a popularsite for the disc golfers, so
I've pledged that I'm going tothrow a round of disc golf this
(08:58):
year.
But we'll see there's too many.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I've tried it.
You think that?
Speaker 3 (09:01):
there's just one disc , but they have multiple discs.
It's three or four or five,you've got the driver, and then
this and that.
So I'm still waiting to learnwhat's going on with that, but
at any rate, and you hadmentioned camping, of course,
lake Shelby.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Another hidden gem is the full hookup.
I think you've got at least onesite that has full hookup,
which is amazing.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Well, we have, I believe, six.
Oh my goodness, I believe wehave six that you can rent that
have the full hookups.
We've got 10 available for RVsand we're hoping to add more.
That would be something we'dlove to see ongoing.
We're working in a sort ofconstraints with space down
there and making that next stepto have more availability.
(09:52):
And we've got a little entranceissue that we're working on to
make sure we can accommodate allthe sizes of RVs and things
coming in.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Maybe some flood mitigation.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
There is a little bit of water thing that we are
working on.
Thankfully our city is reallyon top of that, mayor Eddington
and the public works crew it isactually a city road coming into
our camping area and so theyoversee that and have really
helped us mitigate some of thosewater issues Well that's what
(10:22):
we definitely need morecampsites.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
People are crazy for camping.
Yes, yes and very popular.
If I remember right, you had awaiting list and everything.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Right, we've got plans for four.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
In the near short term.
Okay, Beyond that, we're stillin the stages of figuring out
how Well exciting.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Well, so Changing gears just a little bit.
The park hosts all kinds ofsummer camps and leagues and
things like that, but are thereany unique events that are
coming up at the parks that youwant to talk?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
about.
Here's the thing we are goingthrough.
Like any new administrationcoming in, I see things that
I've noticed for a number ofyears that I would like
differently, and now we're inthat spot we're able to start
making those changes.
It's very exciting and we'vegot some exciting things on the
horizon, like very, very, verysoon we're going to have a new
(11:14):
website where folks can actuallyregister online, pay online,
fill out the waiver online.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Excellent, that is good.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
So we could actually do camping sites.
We can do, we just do.
Multitude sponsors can even goon there and and and and on
there and pledge their supportfor some of those events and
activities.
We have an app that's going tobe coming out in conjunction
with that, hopefully.
I'd love to see it work in kindof geocache a person where they
(11:41):
know where they are inconjunction with different
fields or even different partsof the city and things like that
, because we always getquestions about directions
Where's the next place to go eat?
Where can we do this?
And we have some that are thereall day, so it would be neat if
our app is going to be able toshow them where they can just
(12:02):
pop in.
You're here, here's the nextplace to go get something to eat
in downtown or whatnot, butthat's coming out very, very
soon, excited about that, ofcourse, our leagues are in full
swing Baseball's rocking androlling, softball's rocking and
rolling.
Right now.
We're working to formulate somecamps because we're going to
(12:23):
get back to our roots, one ofthe things that I've noticed
I've always done a lot ofinstructional and that's been
one of the things with me as aparks department head.
I was still involved with theinstructional side of it, so I
was developing my own customers,and so I think with our parks
department, we're going to havea sort of a more of a focus of
developing our own players andtaking some of our beginners or
(12:47):
those that just want to get intointo at least youth sports and
provide camps, whether it'ssoccer, whether it's baseball,
whether it's volleyball um,we're, we're.
This year we'll be rolling out,I believe, one of those and then
targeting more as time goes by.
So, uh, very exciting thingswith all sports.
We've got some travel ballevents coming in.
(13:09):
I've got a big one at the endof June that's coming in, and
then they're coming back forsort of a second lap in
September.
So a lot of exciting things.
One thing that we have donetraditionally that we are taking
a little pause on this year.
We are going to take a pause onour Shake the Lake celebration,
(13:31):
our firework show, things likethat.
We've got some new plans wejust want to reevaluate.
There's a number of fireworkshows and it does get just a
number of factors that we'relooking at Expenses, one Sure,
making sure that we're providinga value that's unique for our
(13:51):
community.
We're actually looking at a latesummer, maybe early fall
festival at Red Orchard Park Ooh, fantastic.
And we can do a music festivaland have some various bands,
different genres.
I'd love to see a bluegrasselement over there.
I'm not a bluegrass connoisseur, but I appreciate the music and
(14:12):
the talent, Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
There's a lot of people who are though, oh yeah,
and it's such a strong Kentuckyconnection.
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
I think doing something like that, we want to
get sort of out of the cover.
Nothing against cover bands,but we kind of want to get out
of that.
I think we want to get to sortof unique music that's known in
our area and some local bands.
We're still testing that waterout and figuring out how we're
(14:41):
going to do it, but we'd reallylike to do that and work with
some vendors.
We've got such a strongpresence of the distilleries and
some other things that aredowntown.
Traditionally we're not able towork with those elements at
parks, but at Red Orchard we'rehopeful that we can sort of
define a new environment there.
(15:03):
We don't have sports leagues andyouth events over there, so
we're hoping, maybe, that we canhost some of these type events
at Red Jork.
Still, we've got playgroundsand we would have youth events
or youth activities, but moretargeted for the adult element.
Come in and appreciate thatstuff.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
That sounds very exciting, very exciting.
A minute ago you said a word,and it was geocache Exciting,
Very exciting.
A minute ago you said a word,and it was geocache what
reminded me of another hiddengem that the park has, and that
is geocaching.
So, for those listening,geocaching is an online treasure
hunt using your phone, and Ihad just looked up 40065, which
(15:44):
is where the park is located,and two power trails One is in
the shape of a duck and one isin the shape of a boat at Lake
Shelby Park.
So those of you who likegeocaching it's absolutely free
Go to geocachecom, put in that40065, and then do those
(16:05):
geocaches.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
So, anyway, that's my little tidbit and maybe, maybe
that wasn't exactly how it'sgoing, but I'm glad you brought
that up.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Maybe it's location, sir, I don't know what it is.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
You said geocache and I went, that's right you know
it's funny and and this is thisis I've got some unique stories
from that I'd love to shareabout parks and it's more my own
experience and not so much as aparks director or a golf
professional or anything likethat.
But one thing that I've beenvery fortunate to do at the
parks is to be able to findthese little rock club stones
(16:38):
that people will paint and leave.
Yes, and some of the mostunique I've had a beautiful bird
, you know, you're just.
I'm walking, I'm in my, you know, I just got finished mowing
greens, or I'm you know just gotfinished.
You know doing something, and myleast, the least thing I'm
thinking about is looking aroundfor rocks and all of a sudden a
(16:58):
rock catches my attention.
Yeah, and you go look at it andit's a painted rock from this
Shelby Rocks Club.
I think is who it is, and thelast one I found was a and maybe
I'm not as good as I should bein putting them back.
I just appreciate the art.
So I'll post them in the shopand let people see them, but it
was an American flag.
And it was striped and it waspainted, it was beautiful.
(17:20):
And then I found a beautifulbird one time and just you know.
So the of of parks and the vibe, uh, there's just all sorts of
elements where people are, aresort of engaging whether you see
them engaging or not, uh, withthings at the park.
I, my son and I use the park alot too.
This is my second story.
I'll tell you, my son and I usethe park a lot for, uh, our
(17:41):
adventures, like we'll metaldetect and we'll we'll go down
there's.
you know, unique history of thepark is um, and I want to be as
sensitive as I can because I'mnot exactly sure, but there was
an Indian presence quite a longtime ago and they found
artifacts in certain areas ofthe park.
(18:03):
I actually think I found ananchor in the creek.
It has an etched out hole in the.
It almost looks like a creekrock, a flat creek rock, but
it's got an etched out hole andI did all this research and I
think that it's something thatthey used to tie down either a
boat or something to stretch furor something Very cool, yeah,
(18:24):
but I'd love to send you thepicture of that.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Oh, I would love to see it.
I know like the listeners wouldprobably love to see it.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
So more hidden gems, just investigating on the trails
or whatever this was in, youknow, because there's like 19
miles of Clear Creek andsomething like that.
This was back.
You know they say the presenceof Native Americans mostly were
where kind of our amphitheateris and our softball area and
back towards Lake Shelby, whichmakes sense because there was
(18:52):
the body of water.
So it's just really neat to kindof tour around there and I know
people have kind of did theiradventuring back through there.
The other element my son and Iwill wait in the creek.
Sometimes We've got our waitersand most recently he and I
found a 1910 Coca-Cola bottlefrom Louisville and it's very
(19:15):
collectible and it was actuallyan amber-colored glass so it's
just beautiful.
I can't remember.
It's got the arrow design, it'sgot a circular arrow design on
it.
Yeah, and it's six and a halfpints.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Oh, that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Or six and a half ounce Six and a half ounce.
It's not an eight ounce.
For 12 ounces it's a six and ahalf ounce.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Right, just found it in a creek.
They made Coca-Cola verydifferently back then.
Yes, Very different recipe.
Yeah for those that.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
There was no Coca-Cola in it.
It was at the bottom of thecreek.
I know, yeah, but we do allthat.
We have found Lexington.
We found a Lexington Coca-Colabottle.
We have yet to find aShelbyville Coca-Cola bottle.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
And that's on his and I's.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, that's sort of on our list, our bucket sort of
list of what we want to find.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
We want to find a.
We'll find it in the wild,because we had that distiller or
we had that bottle here on thebottom has shelbyville.
So we're hopeful that thosethose waterways we found pepsi,
oh, 1940s pepsi bottles andthings like that.
So I really love getting outthere um, but there's just all
kinds of fun.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Well, so many places to visit and so so many hidden
gems to be found.
Yes, I know, in tourism we talkabout the quality of life, that
bringing outside money andvisitors into our community is
such a big deal.
But in your opinion, how ishaving a wonderful park system
(20:42):
like what we have, how is thatincreasing our quality of life,
bettering the community?
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Oh, wow.
I can speak with this more froma standpoint of being a golf
professional and what I've seenat the golf course.
I've had folks come in,especially our elderly, that are
just looking.
There's two things.
One they've either had medicalissues and they need to stay
active.
One they've either had medicalissues and they need to stay
(21:09):
active and nine-tenths of thetime I always get the story of
once they retire that they justset and life is they tend to
find, you know, medical issuespop up more readily.
But when folks will stay activeand keep that blood flowing
they tend to they definitelyimprove their life and so I've
(21:30):
had folks that have reboundedfrom, you know, just horrible
diseases such as cancer andthings like that and they're on
the rebound and they come outand they start walking.
They can play one hole this weekand the next week they're
playing three and before youknow it they're playing in
league and then they're back topractice.
So I feel like that parks cangive people their life back
sometimes and then next weekthey're playing three and then
before you know it they'replaying in league and then
(21:50):
they're back to action.
So I feel like that parks cangive people their life back
sometimes.
You know, and there's, you knowwe can look into, you know, our
water aerobics program.
We can look into some of theeven our master gardeners that
like to get out and work in thegardens, at parks, and it just
brings a life back to folkssometimes when they're in their
(22:11):
sort of second act, improvinglife.
In addition, you know, throughthe peer-to-peer sort of
interaction, there's a lot offolks that will not talk to
someone for a day or two orthree.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
But when?
Speaker 3 (22:26):
they get out, they just engage and just that five
to ten minutes of engaging withother people, because we're very
friendly.
I mean you don't see a lot offrowns at parks.
I mean everybody's usuallyintending to be there, unless
they're going to work out on atreadmill.
That's why we brought in theice cream up there.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
That's funny.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
After they get off the treadmill.
Usually we have smilesbeforehand.
But no, in all seriousnessthey're still friendly, and just
that positive interaction canmake a huge difference in
seniors' lives especially.
And then when we get to kids,adults, everybody's busy.
They're just running, running,running.
Hopefully that allows them toslow down a little bit and just
kind of breathe it in.
But the kids just most of it'sstructured around an activity.
(23:11):
It's structured around baseball, it's structured around golf,
it's structured around our youthcamps and after school and
things like that all the variousnon-athletic activities they do
and just hopefully it helpsbuild their integrity and their
honesty and their more charactertraits that are going to stick
with them.
So parks is uh like I said.
(23:33):
I think parks uh allows folksto either get their life back or
improve their life, and so it'svery good well, we are really
lucky to have such a great parksdepartment uh, and so speaking
of, and obviously you're thedirector of parks, but there's a
whole team that kind of makesall of this happen.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
So can you talk a little bit about some of the
behind-the-scenes things that?
People might find interesting.
There's a lot that goes intodoing the youth league of
baseball or whatever, so can youtalk a little bit about that?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
We have a phenomenal team.
Of course the team as we growcontinues to grow and you know
we have a, I guess.
To put it in perspective, ourpark system is 960 acres of
property.
It comes in three major parksand four mini parks.
We don't so much engage onproperty that's not ours but we
(24:28):
still are active in shows andsome chamber showcases and
things like that.
But on our park system we host885 games.
So when you start looking athow many games we have 2,000
participants over the course ofthe year that are in our youth
(24:49):
leagues and depending on whatthat is soccer, volleyball, fast
pitch, futsal, baseball, juniorgolf it takes a lot to keep
that going.
We do have a very vibrant andfull schedule.
Our athletics department isgreat.
We've just hired on a newathletics director, nick Ford.
(25:10):
He's from Shelbyville, has alot of roots here, has played
Division II ball and done somereally neat things in his career
, and so we're really thankfulfor having him and I think our
athletics department is going tocontinue to grow.
So that department is one ofseven.
(25:30):
Our aquatics department we haveTom Coons who's a well-known
coach and does really well there.
We have a lot of activity.
We have almost 40 lifeguardsthat are on staff, whether it's
the outdoor pool, whether it'sthe indoor pool Wow.
So, taking those things on,we've got a phenomenal
(25:53):
maintenance supervisor.
That's sort ofjack-of-all-trades.
We just continue to.
He's sort of long in his careerso we're wanting him to stay
around as long as we can.
But Earl McDowell does aphenomenal job and, of course,
our sort of our keystone withLeanne Wood.
She's sort of our.
She's the assistant parksdirector and office
(26:17):
administrator, and so you know,all of us work together.
We're not a real big crew.
We're more part-time andseasonal staff, but it takes a
lot.
We're really focused on ourmaster schedule and making sure
the communication is out there,so everybody's abreast of what
we're doing at parks and canschedule and hopefully they'll
(26:40):
see that in our app and andthings.
So, um, I've just got a got agreat crew.
Um, our youth services, um,jordan, uh, tetterton he is.
He is great at what he does, soI could talk about all of them
individually but we've got,we've just got.
We've just got everybody who'swho got, everybody who's just
(27:00):
been in it and are passionateabout it, and it shows in the
work that we do.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
If you want to take that adventure into parks,
please, Shelby County Parks,please come see us.
We'd love to see who the nextall-star is coming down the
track.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
You're probably always hiring, I bet somebody.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
There's always something.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Full-time, part-time.
There's always somethingFull-time, part-time, whatever
and you have kind of answeredthis question before.
But in your downtime, when youwant to relax, what is your
favorite thing to do at ShelbyCounty Parks?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
My downtime.
I guess I'm a mudder of sorts.
I think there's somethingcalled mudlarking.
I don't know, and that's sortof a hobby of things where
people will find stuff in creeksand mud banks and things like
that.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
I was thinking you were a birdwatcher and there was
a mudlark.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
No, I think it's called mudlark.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I've seen like magnet fishing.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Yes, oh, I have seen that.
Yes, so I'm an adventurer.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
I seem like magnet fishing.
Yes, oh, I have seen that.
Okay, yes, so I'm an adventurer.
I just like to.
I just like to get out.
My son likes to get out.
He's nine, um, and and I didwant to say that my wife is
phenomenal, my son is phenomenaland I've got a great support
system at home so it allows meto do a lot of these things and
be engaged a lot at parks, andwe all do have a big support
(28:19):
system.
So me getting out on my own andspending time at parks is I'm
very grateful to my, to myfamily, and they want to spend
some time there, even thoughI've been there for all week and
things like that.
So you know, my home, my homelife is, is is park devoted too.
So, I'm very grateful for thatand being able to get out and
(28:41):
wade through creeks and havesome fun.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Oh well, this has been fun and I can tell, and
Mason, like we've learned a lotabout those little hidden gems,
too, that the parks have.
But hopefully more people willcome out, more people will do
something new.
Maybe try Pickleball, if youhaven't ever tried Pickleball.
But thank you so much for beingwith us.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Absolutely.
And the last thing that I wouldmention is upcoming.
A big exciting thing that we dohave upcoming is we're going to
be revamping the FamilyActivity Center.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Oh, very exciting.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
And so we're going to put the activity back in the
Activity Center.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Okay, Very exciting, and so we're going to put the
activity back in the activitycenter.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Okay, you know, aside from everything that I'm sure
you all have delved into thegrant world and things like that
you know we're looking forfunding and working on some
different items, but we'relooking at moving our fitness
center up to our Walters Centerand creating a sports and
fitness center.
That's a collab with ourathletics department some of our
personal trainers Instead ofbeing separate.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
And then?
Speaker 3 (29:44):
moving our youth center down to our, our main
area in the lobby where we canhave more of a, a nursery
element in the front with somesensory sort of uh elements to
it to cater to different,different uh um learning styles
and things of kids.
but but I really wanted to putthat we're going to bring some
arcade games back, hopefullyinto the back part of the
activity center.
I'd love to one day find thefunding and this is sort of step
(30:08):
B or phase B to have anactivity patio in the back where
we can have shuffleboard,four-squared little concerts and
right you know, family movienights and things like that.
So we're really focused ongetting some activity back into
the activity center, um, and soI think that's going to be
something where you know we're,we're uh, and we take some notes
(30:31):
when we go to some of these biguh bolo ramas or right other
experiences and and we're tryingto bring a little of that
element to our, to our community, to make sure that that the
kids have someplace positive togo um, that they can, that they
can utilize those, uh, thoseelements.
So, other than that, the lastthing that I was going to say is
(30:52):
uh, we're very happy toannounce that we received a, um,
a very big grant from the statewith Environmental and Energy
Cabinet for a crumb rubberproject.
We received a $150,000 grant.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
And it's a matching grant, a 75-25 grant, that now
we're going to resurface theLittle Heroes Playground with
crumb rubber and recycled rubbermaterial.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
That's the handicap.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
It will be ADA compliant.
Ada compliant yes, so we'revery happy about that and we get
such traffic to that.
It's such a wonderfulplayground area, but it's
getting ready to go supersized,okay.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
That is excellent.
Ultra playground, fair, ultraplayground.
I love it.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
So we're very excited and thankful for that.
Hopefully all that work is doneby the end of the summer.
Okay and uh, we got all kindsof stuff going well your energy
is wonderful we, you're.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
You're going to be wonderful for the park, thank
you absolutely well, uh,anything else before we wrap up?
No, I said my last, last thing,so oh, we could go on, there
are so many parts to our parksystem that the interview could
go on, but we will not.
We'll cut it here.
Yes, indeed.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Thanks so much for being on this.
No, thank you all for having me.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
This has been Kentucky Hidden Wonders.
Thank you to Derek Griffithsfor coming on the show and thank
you for listening.
If you've made it this far,make sure you subscribe and
leave us a review.
We'll return with a brand newKentucky Hidden Wonders episode
in two weeks.
Bye everyone.
Kentucky Hidden Wonders is aShelby KY Tourism production.
(32:34):
Your hosts are Janet and MasonMoore.
To learn more about Shelby KYTourism and to start planning a
visit, head to visitshelbykycom.
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