Guin Park and Recreation

As I do many spring and summer nights, I spent the evening at our local park watching Heather play a little softball. While I'm normally out there myself during the summer, I decided to take a break this year to play a little more golf. It's always fun, though, to get out to the park and fellowship with others and enjoy the beautiful park we have here in Guin. There are very few cities the size of Guin who are blessed with such beautiful facilities that we have in this community.

As many of you already know, our park and recreation department services three softball fields, three baseball fields, a pool/water park, batting cages, and our newly built Collins Life Center. This also includes our beautiful high school baseball and softball fields. Through our sports leagues, camps, pool projects, and lunch programs, they are able to serve thousands of people each year affecting citizens of all ages. What many don't realize is the number of jobs the park also provides to our young adults each year. Through the years, the park/pool has employed hundreds of our youth teaching them valuable lessons they take with them as they develop their professional careers. Just this summer, the park has put approximately 55 of our young adults to work.

As a community leader, funding is always an issue we have to be concerned with and traditionally parks in small towns have never been money making ventures. Our park, though, has done well budgeting through the years and has even reduced their budgets each year over the last four years without diminishing the services they provide. While it's understood that our park will never make the city wealthy, the services they provide to our community by keeping our kids off the streets and away from so many horrible things is priceless.

I truly am proud of what we have to offer our community through the services our park and recreation department offers. If you haven't visited in a while, please take time to go take in a game or just stop by and have someone show you around. Zane, David, Lori, and others would always be willing to show you what they have to offer.