Mike Parsons

East Coast transplant takes role as Searcy parks director

Mike Parsons, shown here at Yancey Park in Searcy, recently became the new director for the Searcy Parks and Recreation Department following the retirement of Brian Smith. Parsons has served in the department for 10 years and is eager to follow in Smith’s footsteps.
Mike Parsons, shown here at Yancey Park in Searcy, recently became the new director for the Searcy Parks and Recreation Department following the retirement of Brian Smith. Parsons has served in the department for 10 years and is eager to follow in Smith’s footsteps.

Mike Parsons still isn’t quite moved into his new office. Yes, he is able to conduct business in the room, but he has not yet had a chance to make it his own. There is a framed article about his family, as well as a couple of relics hinting at his Florida background, but there are also old maps and plans, leftovers from the previous occupant, that Parsons still has to go through.

Parsons recently became the new director for the Searcy Parks and Recreation Department, following the retirement of Brian Smith. After 10 years of experience in the department, Parsons said he is eager to follow in Smith’s footsteps by providing good direction and leadership for the staff, volunteers, participants and families who are involved in the parks.

“There’s a lot we can do, and there’s a lot to be done,” Parsons said.

Like many Searcy professionals, Parsons moved to the city as a college student. He met his wife, Shara, while at Harding University. She is a labor and delivery nurse at White County Medical Center, and the pair knew they were going to stay in Searcy after graduation because of their jobs.

“She graduated a semester before me,” Parsons said of his wife. “She started working at the hospital, and I started working in the parks department, and we both just loved our jobs, and that was really important to us. They’ve got great schools here. All of our friends are here now. It’s definitely some place I can see my daughter growing up.”

Parsons is originally from the East Coast. He was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and his family moved to Summerville, South Carolina, when he was 5 years old.

Growing up, Parsons played sports — mainly soccer — through high school. He was not considering a career in parks and recreation at that time, but he said he learned a lot from his experiences surrounding sports. His parents allowed him to try new things, and he got a well-rounded view of sports and activities that were available to children in his area.

“My parents were really involved,” he said. “They didn’t push us to do stuff, but they supported everything we did. We got to try out a lot of different sports, so that definitely helped me.”

After graduating from high school, Parsons took a few years off from school and was working odd jobs when his friend asked him to check out Harding University.

“I needed a fresh start, and I had a buddy that asked me to be his roommate, and I’m still here,” Parsons said. “I was a 21-year-old freshman at Harding. It was different because being 21, you’ve already been out on your own, but at Harding you were required to live in the dorms for a certain amount of time. It was a learning experience, but I’m glad I did it because I got to meet a lot of my friends through the dorm life.”

When he initially arrived at Harding, Parsons said, he was not sure what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. As a child, he had an interest in marine biology, and when he was in high school, he thought it would be neat to be a teacher and coach. He said he had hoped to find more direction in the years he took between high school and college, but it was still a little while before he nailed down a career path.

“I think I changed my major five times,” he said. “I ended up double-majoring in kinesiology and sports management. My first major was youth ministry — which is kind of why I went to Harding — and I just jumped around from there.”

In his final semester at Harding, Parsons had to complete an internship to fulfill his graduation requirements. He decided to do his internship with the city’s parks and recreation department, and he has been an employee there ever since.

“I did my internship in the maintenance department,” he said. “I worked maintaining the fields and doing pretty much anything that needed to be done.”

After he graduated with a bachelor’s degree, Parsons was hired on with the parks department in a part-time night-shift position. He worked mainly nights and weekends, and his job included answering calls, taking reservations, and breaking down and setting up rooms for various meetings and events.

“From there, I was promoted to program coordinator,” he said, “and then from there to assistant director, and then I applied for the director’s spot when it opened up.”

Parsons has been in the parks department for 10 years, and he said serving under Smith was a great time to learn how a city department can run efficiently, especially a department like parks and recreation that deals a lot with citizens and visitors on a regular basis. A big part of that is managing staff well, and Parsons said Smith had a great way of balancing direction with freedom when it came to the parks staff.

“[Smith] wasn’t always breathing down your neck; he wasn’t always looking over your shoulder,” Parsons said. “He would kind of let you do your own thing, but he was there to step in. He let you mess up sometimes, but he was there to help you and step in before things got too far. He definitely wanted you to have the opportunity to learn on your own.”

Now that he sits in the director’s chair, Parsons said, he will probably take some of those same principles and carry them over into the way he will run the department. Luckily, he said, the staff is already very tight-knit, and its members work well together.

“Our department is a very close department,” he said. “We hear that from other departments throughout the city. There won’t be much transition since everything has already been flowing so smoothly. I’m sure I’ll put my own little twist on different things here and there, but there won’t be any drastic changes.”

While management of the department may not change much, there are some improvements in the works right now that will offer benefits for residents. Last year, the city passed an eight-year sales tax, and parks will be one of the departments that will benefit from those funds.

“We’re going to be getting a swimming pool,” Parsons said. “We’re going to be getting a splash pad. We’ll be getting new concessions and

restrooms for the football fields, and new concessions and restrooms for the girls softball fields as well.”

Although he has been employed by the parks department since he graduated, Parsons has stayed involved in activities that feed his other interests. One example is his involvement in youth ministry. Even though he did not major in youth ministry at Harding, he is actively involved in a local organization called K-Life that allows him to interact with and influence teenagers.

“K-Life is a nonprofit youth group, if you will. It’s a nondenominational place for the kids in the community — whether they have church homes or not — to come and hang out. They play games throughout the week. Each night is for a different age group. They do ‘devos’ (devotionals), and a lot of our leaders come from Harding, so the kids get that one-on-one connection,” Parsons said. “When I was at Harding I volunteered, and I led a small group for four years. … I joined the board after some time off, and I am currently the board president.”

As the K-Life Board’s president, Parsons has had opportunities to foster the leadership qualities and experience to successfully lead a group of people, but he said he is still eager to learn more about his new position as parks department director by observing and asking questions of other city department heads. Parsons is the newest and youngest in this group, and he said others can provide a wealth of advice.

“I’m looking to learn a lot from the other department heads since they have a lot more experience and wisdom,” he said. “I want to learn everything I can to benefit the department, as well as the city.”

Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.

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