15 minute read
Good People
5questions Christy Turner She gets up each day, eager to be a part of Cullman Park, Rec and Sports Tourism
Story by David Moore Photo by Leslie Dyer/Soulful Snaps
Heritage Park, Cullman Wellness and Aquatic Center, Field of Miracles, Cross Creek Golf Course, neighborhood parks, Art Park, Donald Green Senior Center, Festhalle Marketplatz, Hurricane Creek, the 21-mile Duck River Trail for mountain biking and hiking, North Alabama Agriplex, indoor archery ranges, Oktoberfest, Strawberry Festival, Cullman Community Theatre, baseball, softball and volleyball leagues, flag football teams, Second Fridays, Christmas in Cullman, Christkindlmarkt, summer camp, arts camp, field trips …
It’s a crazy long and crazy fun list of activities offered to not just residents of the city of Cullman but all of Cullman County.
But guess what?
All of that fun requires a lot of effort on the part of a lot of folks.
Christy Turner can tell you all about the long hours, the hard work, the pressure and dedication required of her and the other 35 employees of Cullman Parks, Recreation and Sports Tourism, a $7 million department budgeted by the city of Cullman. She can tell about work and pressure, but she won’t. She simply doesn’t dwell upon the grueling aspects of the job. Far from it.
“Not one day since I started working here have I gotten up in the morning and not wanted to come to work,” says Christy, CPRST’s recreational development director. “Never. It sounds corny … but it’s true.”
When former CPRST director Nathan Anderson left Oct. 1, 2019, to take a private-sector job in Nashville, Christy – along with Kyle Clark – was named co-interim director. They remained in that position until March 2020 when Zac Wood of Cullman replaced Nathan as CPRST director.
“I am very excited about Zac coming in,” Christy says. “I can’t wait to work and grow with him and see a lot of our existing projects through.”
CPRST has been nationally recognized over the years for its top-notch programs and facilities. And last year it became Alabama’s first department – and one of only 178 across the country – to earn accreditation through the National Recreation and Park Association.
Yep. Park and Rec’s scope in Cullman – and across the county – is far-reaching.
Christy grew up in Crane Hill, daughter of Barbara and Ray Calvert, a stay-at-home mom and a dad who was a contractor and poultry farmer.
“I have wonderful parents that taught me how to work hard, serve God, be grateful, to laugh, never give up, and how to be a servant,” she says.
They also instilled in her a love of community and people.
After a friend’s father had a stroke, Christy was inspired to work in the healthcare field, which is why she majored in occupational therapy at Wallace State Community College, and why she later worked for Restore Therapy Services at USA Healthcare.
In 1997, another friend, Julie Edwards Graham, got Christy a blind date with Rusty Turner. They married that fall and went on to raise three children.
After a stint as a stay-at-home mom herself, Christy’s early lessons of service and community led her to volunteer in 2009 at CPRST’s then new Cullman Wellness and Aquatic Center. The position also dovetailed nicely with her earlier desires to be associated with healthcare, and she quickly felt at home.
What’s more, John Hunt, then director of CPRST, insisted that the new, firstclass facility existed to serve the entire Cullman community, not just people inside the city, which resonated strongly with Christy’s upbringing,
“John always felt like the aquatic center was meant to be an extension of everyone in the community, not just one segment,” she says. “It’s always been a part of the community fabric.”
So she immersed herself in the team effort to serve the community, first as a volunteer with CPRST then going fulltime in 2011.
“I’ve felt like a part of the team since the beginning,” Christy says. “We are all very community-minded, servant-like people. We have a heart for community and to give of ourselves to help Cullman be Cullman.”
In Christy’s view, CPRST really took off in 2007 when the Field of Miracles became a reality, providing ballpark facilities for athletes with special needs.
“Chester Freeman helped make that happen,” she says. “He was one of the most giving, community-minded people I ever had the privilege of knowing.”
Field of Miracles is an example of CPRST and city leaders listening to the needs of the community and responding accordingly, Christy says.
“That happens often,” she says. “It’s why it’s not uncommon for one of our programs to lead to another.”
Such was the beginning of CWAC. The same happened with the youth volleyball camp that prepares kids for middle school sports, and – of special interest to Christy – with CPRST’s therapeutic recreation program. The latter uses the power of playing and leisure activities to help rehabilitate people of all ages and promote their overall wellness.
“During the busy season, Parks and Recreation program has over 200 parttime, seasonal employees,” she says of the program. “We have over 200 volunteers as well, including members of the Pilot Club, coaches and the girls basketball team at Cold Springs High School. They love it and won volunteer group of the year for their work with Therapeutic Recreation.”
SNAPSHOT: Christy Turner EARLY LIFE: Grew up in Crane Hill, eldest child of Ray and Barbara Calvert; siblings are Stephanie Crider and Todd Calvert. “God gave me all their good traits,” she laughs. FAMILY: Married Rusty Turner, now a three-term Cullman County district judge. They have three grown children: Jordan, Rutland and Annelise, who is still in college. EDUCATION: Attended Dowling Elementary and Dowling Junior High; graduated in 1989, Cold Springs High, where she played basketball. Worked her way through Wallace State Community College, graduating in 1995 with the first class of occupational therapy students. CAREER: 1995-2005, worked in geriatric care for Restore Therapy Services at USA Healthcare facilities in Morgan and Cullman counties. Stay-at-home mom and sold real estate on the side until 2009. Volunteered with Cullman Park, Recreation and Sports Tourism at the front desk of the newly opened Cullman Wellness and Aquatic Center, then worked part time in programs and marketing; 2011 went full-time with CPRST in programs and specials events; now serves as recreational development director. OTHER ACTIVITIES: attends Daystar Church. Member of the Cullman Regional Service Guild, Cullman Women’s League; former member of Second Century League.
Christy says CPRST’s team approach has nurtured a special relationship between the department and the community.
“We are part of the community as individuals, and when you are a part of something, it becomes bigger than you. We are all investing in our community as well as individuals.”
In the end, Christy continues, it becomes good for everyone because “Cullman” means everyone in the community.
“I come to work every day knowing what I do makes a difference,” she says. “Beyond recreation and wellness, CPRST plays a part in recruiting businesses to the area. I want Cullman to have strong industry and quality of life in our community, because I want my children – all of our children – to be able to move back here, make a living and raise a family. CPRST is a vital piece in the quality of life in our community.
“I was born here,” she continues. “I have lived here my entire life. My roots are here, and I want to end my time here. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. What a wonderful, fantastic community we have. And I am blessed to a small part of it.” 1. What is the status on the new civic center building and what sort of doors and opportunities will the multipurpose facility open to the public?
It’s still in the early stages of the design process. We are gathering information on current and future needs and trying to put it all together in a plan that meets all those needs under one roof. It’s a fluid situation.
When it’s built it will meet the needs for an indoor sports complex and an events center, and we’ll be able to convert it to meet civic needs.
While meeting the needs of our community, we hope to grow our sports tourism as well. We can recruit different types of sporting events that we couldn’t in the past because we didn’t have the space. For instance, large volleyball and basketball tournaments, indoor archery on a larger scale, trade shows, concerts, E-sports – online gaming – and larger craft shows. It’s kind of endless the things you can do if you have a space large enough and can convert it.
The building will house CPRST’s central offices there, as well. At the moment, the central staff is located at a renovated house on Second Avenue just down from Depot Park. Before coronavirus, there were about a dozen people working in there.
The new offices will make the work flow much better. We are excited.
The civic center will be where the old Marvin’s was on Main Avenue. It will be walking distance to the aquatic center. We have not gotten that far into design to know if the walkways between the two will be covered or not. But being adjacent to the aquatic center, and having Heritage Park across the road and the Miracle Fields, senior center and the Ingle connective park all nearby … having so much in one general location makes CPRST an even better recruitment tool, if you will.
Not all places have everything that we have in one area. And it’s within walking distance of restaurants, too. It makes it very marketable, not just for sports tourism, but tourism in general.
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“Pastoring at Grace Chapel brought me here first. Then came the new office for Byars Wright. But family brought us here more than anything.” – Trae Norrell, wife Sara Beth (Witcher) and Lou – glad to be in Cullman.
And the new civic center will be in the middle of it all. 2. You’ve been involved with CPRST for about 11 years. In that time, what are some changes and services that you are most proud of?
I guess the biggest, “mostest” proudest thing for me is being a part of this team we have. It’s what we together, our team has accomplished. And I am most proud to be a part of it.
That probably sounds cliché, but I’m proud of being a part of our community and the things we do for it every day. Not just at CPRST, but Cullman as a whole.
The team includes our city leaders … the mayor, council, economic development, the park board. We partner with the county on some things, and I enjoy working with them as well. Then there’s the staff I work with every day … all of the volunteers.
We are all a part of something bigger than ourselves and are working toward a common goal.
This goes back to the construction of Heritage park. That’s when we started coming on the scene, if you will. That put us on the map.
John Hunt (Nathan Anderson’s predecessor as director of CPRST) was there when I started, and I got to work with him for almost five years before he retired. He was able to see growth in his 23 years that was significant to Cullman Parks and Recreation.
One of John’s intangibles, which showed in his work, was his love for the community. I could see that, but I don’t think I learned that from him – my parents taught me. But his love for the community was very evident.
John’s passing away on March 16 was tragic, shocking. His memory and legacy will continue to live on in our parks, and in the CPRST team.
And that team is the reason for all the wonderful changes.
I am most proud of this, too – I feel like we have become a good partner with our city and county leaders. We are a good tool for economic development and the other economic drivers that benefit us all.
3.
CPRST is in the midst of
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When Nathan came to CPRST, it was important to him, a top priority, to refresh the neighborhood parks. In that three years we have renovated Stiefelmeyer and Culpepper parks, Carroll Acres, Ingle – which we refer to as the Connected Playground – and Art Park.
Art Park is not complete because of all the rain at the first of the year, but it’s almost done.
Nesmith Park and East Side Park – or Lions Club Park – are on schedule for 2020 and 2021, with completion, hopefully, by 2021. The coronavirus has hurt that schedule, however.
When Nathan came on board, CPRST was really starting to look at how important neighborhood parks are to the impart on green space in the city, and how important they were to the neighborhoods to be a 10-minute walk away.
There is an importance for play and activity. That’s why our motto is “Get Out and Live.” That’s our goal for people, and it became real to Nathan. So he – along
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with the park board and mayor and council – made it a priority.
The neighborhood parks needed updating, refreshing, so they encourage people to come out and play. To throw a ball. Or just be outside, be active and engaged.
CPRST has no plans to make new parks at this time. We just want to refurbish Nesmith and East Side so we complete the full circle with the neighborhood parks. 4. CPRST is more than just sports and physical activities. The department offers numerous, nonphysical activities. What are some of them, and how did those offerings come about?
Art is certainly one of those offerings. While renovating the old City Park, we renamed it Art Park. We had in our mind that this park would be a way to encourage programs and other things to reach people’s creative side. We have a lot of talented people in Cullman, and we wanted to use this as a platform to foster and nurture their creativity.
An interesting side note ... this whole thing began with a renovation of the art building on the former City Park site. Interestingly enough, that building was the first office of Parks and Recreation back in the 1960s.
We were very intentional with the things we did with this park. We wanted it to have personality of its own. We made bathrooms from old shipping containers. We had Donald Walker paint scenes and words on them unique to Cullman, our home. He painted murals under the culvert, too.
We also commissioned the first art piece. It was done by a local native, Heath McClain. He sculpted “A Farmer.” We had an unveiling last fall.
We have all of our art classes in the building and summer camp. We also offer piano and some music classes and hold theatre practice there.
CPRST is many things to many people. We heard from the community that there was a need that was not being met. They wanted art programs. We stuck our toe in the water and continue to listen and grow.
Another example is that we partnered with Cullman Community Theatre as an art outreach.
We do children’s threatre every January and partner with Cullman High School for a summer camp for theatre that’s open to everyone. 5. What is something most people don’t know about Christy Turner?
I am a pretty boring person, but one thing most people don’t know is that we had a foreign exchange student last year, and now she has become the newest “member” of our family.
Our three kids now have a new sibling, Pia. She’s from Norway. She graduated as a senior from Cullman in 2019 and returned home to finish her
Serving the citizens of the City of Cullman since 1951
senior and 13th year of school there. She plans to move back this year and attend Wallace State.
It feels like we have another daughter.
Not only did we gain a “child” in Pia, but we gained other family members as well. Her mother and her brother all feel like they’ve been with us from the beginning. We all speak by phone or Face Time at least once a week. They visited us and we visited them as well.
We spent the Christmas holiday with them in the Trondheim (a city of nearly 200,000 on a fjord of the same name in Central Norway). Her mom and brother visited with us for spring break in 2019.
Most people probably also don’t know that my favorite gifts are quilts from my grandmothers. Once, years ago, my late Grandmother Calvert gave me and all her grandkids hand-made quilts for Christmas. She did every stitch in those quilts.
We all opened then up and thought, “Oh. Yea. A quilt.” But when you are young, you just don’t appreciate what a gift that is. A quilt takes you back to the things that really matter. It grounds you in what you are, and reminds you where you came from and what you are here for. It is a tangible feeling.
As I grew older, I realized what went into that quilt. Today, it’s tattered and worn and used, and I think of her every time I use it. She wanted me to use it, and I do.
I am also a huge fan of college sports and the Green Bay Packers.
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