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Show t . 'i'i'i'i . i i City Programs Show Growth-Improvement Growth-Improvement Over The Years area. Under his supervision is the recreation complex on 400 North, all the parks in the city, all the recreational programs the city sponsors, the indoor swimming complex, and the upkeep of all city owned property. He's the first to admit though that this is far from being a one man job and he's quick to give the credit where it belongs. Under his direct supervision comes Chuck Goode and Scott Whittaker at the golf course, John Miller who is the ice rink manager, Maxine Harmon the city recreation program director, Ron Smith the aquatics director, Scott Tueller the parks supervisor and Doug Killan the building maintenance supervisor. The lucky lady who gets to take all the messages for Neil when he's out doing his job is his secretary Marge Kingsbury. Kings-bury. Other than these supervisory people Neil also has the responsibility of overseeing the operation that includes six other fulltime employees em-ployees and about 60 part-time workers. "I DON'T look at it as having all these people peo-ple working for me or under me but rather I have all these people working with me" Neil made clear. It has been a strange string of events that finds Neil in charge of one of the best recreation recrea-tion and parks departments in the state. As a youngster he had a great desire to stay in the golf profession, "in fact it was only myself that talked me out of becoming a club professional." profession-al." He began as a starter at the Alpine Country Coun-try Club in American Fork, he was born and raised in Orem, at the age of 15. He worked this course until college life took him to Southern Utah State where in 1969 he was second low medialist in the Rocky Mountain Golf Conference. Confer-ence. Even during those years he went back to the course to work in the summer months. THEN THROUGH the grapevine he heard of a new course opening up in Bountiful and he was hired as the golf course superintendent. "It was fun working with Bill Neff on the construction con-struction of the course. I had no say in the basic design of the course but I did have input in some of the other areas like tee box size, the green elevations, location of sand traps and anything that dealt with any maintenance problems." prob-lems." Neil was extremely happy with that job but the city gave him some added responsibility . when Roland Anderson left the city as their parks superintendent. "They just asked me to take over that job as well and I agreed to it since they had the confidence in me." Then in 1978 Terry Tucker left the city as their recreation recrea-tion director and recognizing a good man when they saw one the city again simply added some more responsibility to Neil by asking him to take over the reigns of the recreation department. depart-ment. When asked what job is next when someone leaves Neil simply joked "the city manager." SINCE THEN the parks have been built up and the recreation department has become much larger but Neil sees some problem areas. "The hardest thing for me to handle is the vandalism at the parks. We have had people rip the urinals off the walls, paint graffitti all over the walls and chop down the trees. One guy last year chopped down a 40 foot tree at the golf course for their Christmas tree. I just don't understand people like that." Neil has a simple, yet highly successful, philosophy phi-losophy about his job. "I try to keep involved as much as I can in the everyday operations. I like to know what's going on in each area of the basic programs in all the departments. That way I can make sure the problems are being taken care of. My people realize that I work with them. One of the main reasons the city has a great program is that we have some good dedicated people in this area and it's a good team effort since we all work well together." MR. JENKINS likes to know the people who are working for him, "I like to meet all of them including the part-timers. That way they can know who I am and what I expect of them." Neil also has some ideas for the future if the money were available. "I'd like to see a soft-ball soft-ball complex in the city. That way we could free up some of the other parks to put other things like more tennis courts, or outdoor racquet rac-quet ball courts. As for the recreation department depart-ment I feel we are doing a great job for the children and sports enthusiasts. I'd like to find a way to reach out to the middle age people and find out their needs and see what we can do for them." HE'S ALWAYS looking for ways to improve his programs and facilities. He's an avid sportsman that loves to fish and hunt and word is he still swings a mean golf club when he has the time. Those of us who have lived in this area for a long time realize the growth and improvement over that time in the parks and recreational areas and Neil Jenkins, although he would be the first to give the credit somewhere else, would have to be a main reason for those improvements. im-provements. HE IS a lucky man in that he loves his work, although there are some nights when the wind comes on strong that he gets to sit and watch the bubble all night. In the same sense Bountiful Bounti-ful is lucky in that they have a man that is ideally suited for the job. . fir , f2 ' -T j V f t l I ... r ... i I " li. I f iv fix I ' i Lvj i-i p p it.' ' I I "5 !; rk A" w 4iv v ' : -. r - ' (,-;. 1 P '-Nil ,- j -it- .1 w V k r V ' i'r Centerville's Eagle soccer team surprised a lot of people with their third place showing in the international tournament in Denver recently. Members of the team are. Front row (It to rt) Joshua Carmack, Mathew Racker, Kenny Vowles, Mark Hansen, Nicholas Berry, Garret Larson, Nathan Judd. Second row (I to r) Josh Hooge, Barrie Lawson, Jamie Coombs, Ryan Creer, Travis Hooge, Corby Egan, Cameron Egan. Back row It to rt) Coach Robert Hooge and Coach Rick Egan. (Not present for picture was James Buck). ' |
