Bowling Green and Warren County Parks and Recreation Departments named ‘Department of the Year’ at state conference
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Bowling Green and Warren County Parks and Recreation Departments received the Department of the Year award at a statewide conference in Carrollton last week.
“Being recognized as Department of the Year wouldn’t have felt right if it was just Bowling Green Parks and Rec or Warren County Parks and Rec. Obviously, we serve the same community, the same people that call Warren County and Bowling Green home… to be recognized alongside Warren County Parks and Rec, not just as the city but together as city and county was just a tremendous recognition,” BGPR Recreation Division Manager Cameron Levis says.
Both departments attended the Kentucky Recreation and Parks Society’s conference to receive the award, and Levis believes it’s because of one thing he and Warren County director Chris Kummer share in common.
“Chris and I both have a background in serving people with disabilities through recreation and through sport. So our different programming with our adaptive water sports, our ParkAble initiative, just making sure that all of our parks, whether they’re in the county, whether they’re in the city, really doesn’t matter to us. We want to make sure that our parks are able to be enjoyed by all people, regardless of any disability they may have… and so that partnership has been really huge for us, and one that I’m thankful for,” he says.
Kummer says there’s an added layer behind the scenes the public may not see daily, but it’s a huge asset to their partnership.
“To be able to partner up with Bowling Green City Parks through Warren County Parks and Rec and do adaptive activities and have a structure to where we’re not trying to overlap services, we’re trying to maximize the services that we both offer to the citizens that we serve. I think it’s just a testament to the commitment of quality of life of both Warren County government and the City of Bowling Green, and making sure that every family, every person that resides here in Warren County has a wonderful quality of life opportunity,” he says.
Both agree though that partnerships like this, and on projects like The Fringe, which they worked on collaboratively, are able to keep parks in both Bowling Green and Warren County accessible for all citizens.
“We recognize that as our community grows that we need to make sure that we’re always at the table, always a part of the conversations of growing the services that we provide, the programs that we offer, the facilities and parks that we build, moving into the future. We’re going to operate independently, of course, and serve our constituents. But it’s always going to be better when we can do things together and we’re able to definitely serve more people. That partnership certainly means a ton for us to be able to look across or look through government lines and just be able to say ‘Hey, we’re serving the same community, let’s do it together and make it all the better,” Levis says.
