Hanna Ross was hired to be the boss of the Morrilton Parks and Recreation Department, and all her employees are old enough to be her parents or grandparents.
Ross, 25, will take over as director Tuesday when Larry Tarrant leaves to take a banking job in Cabot, where he lives. Ross was hired a year ago as the department’s first program director.
“Luckily, through this whole process, each employee has been respectful of my age,” she said. Ross pointed out that she’ll be 26 in June.
Those include the employees of C4, the Conway County Community Center, which is being purchased by the city for $270,000 to be part of the Parks and Recreation Department. The department’s office has already moved to the facility at 1307 E. Harding St.
Ross, who still lives in Birdtown, where she grew up, is the only female city-department head. Mayor Allen Lipsmeyer said he supported her promotion to director.
“She’s got roots here,” he said. “She’s been with the system for eight years on a part-time basis, … and she’s been with Larry almost two years.”
Ross started working for the Parks and Recreation Department eight years ago when she was still attending Nemo Vista High School. She umpired and did paperwork for the department under the previous director.
“Sports are my life,” she said.
Ross was the catcher on her high school softball team for four years, including when the Lady Red Hawks won the state tournament in 2008. She also played basketball, volleyball and golf in high school.
Ross has two younger brothers, Preston and Houston, who played school and competitive baseball.
“I’ve grown up at the ball fields,” she said.
She still plays co-ed softball, and once in a while, she participates in a kickball tournament with her brothers and her longtime boyfriend, Clint Jones.
Ross said she started out wanting to go into the medical field, based on encouragement from her parents, but switched to speech pathology. She got her basics at the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton and finished her degree at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where she spent a year working toward a master’s in teaching.
“I didn’t feel like that was the right fit,” she said. Ross worked at the Parks Department during that time and was also a substitute teacher for four years at Nemo Vista.
When she was hired as program director, the stars aligned.
“I liked interacting with the kids — that’s why I like this job so much because I get to interact with young kids,” she said.
As program director, Ross took the ball and ran with it, Tarrant said.
“One thing about Hanna, she’s a very smart young lady. She knows how to run the programs here in Morrilton,” Tarrant said. “We took over C4, the community center, in December 2016. She’s jumped in here and made some changes and is kind of running this facility, too.”
Tarrant said Ross added youth and adult programs when she became program director.
Ross said the county-run C4 was more focused on fitness.
“We wanted to bring in sports and programs and make it more family- and kid-friendly,” she said.
She added a co-ed church softball league; started youth volleyball for fourth to sixth-grades; and obtained sponsorships for all youth teams.
In addition to youth sports and C4, of course, the department oversees the Pocket Park in downtown Morrilton, the city park and a natural trail on Levi Drive that has been improved.
“We fixed it up and added bathrooms,” she said.
Ross also started Movie in the Park and Dive-In Movie at the city pool, which is a free community event sponsored in conjunction with UACCM.
“That was one of my goals, too, was to make free community events,” she said. Ross said free family nights at the pool will be held twice a month this summer.
A $4 million city bond issue approved in 2016 by the Morrilton City Council has funded improvements.
The softball and baseball parks have undergone $500,000 in improvements, including new bleachers, handicapped-
accessible ramps, and bathrooms on Field 4, which had none. Another $200,000 was put into upgrading the swimming pool, tennis courts and outdoor basketball courts, Tarrant said.
Lipsmeyer said about $250,000 will be spent on remodeling C4, which will likely be renamed, Ross said.
“We’re going to go top to bottom and remodel the whole building,” she said, adding that the facility will remain open to paying members the entire time. “People are not going to recognize the community
center when they walk in.”
The C4 membership fee was lowered to make the facility more accessible, she said, and it worked. The number of members has doubled since the city took over the operation of the community center, Ross said.
“It was very exciting when I could approach my commission with those numbers,” she said. “We worked very hard in January.”
The fitness area will be the first to undergo remodeling, she said, and a wall will be torn out to expand the area and replace the floor. The workout equipment will be moved to the gym during that time, and Ross said the plan is to replace the gym floor, using a $25,000 grant. The plan also includes gutting and renovating the bathrooms, adding changing rooms and updating the offices.
Right now, she shares an office with Tarrant and has a conference table and a file holder sitting on top of it.
“I am very organized,” she said, but she’s ready to have more than a makeshift office.
Ross said another of her goals as director will be to reinstitute the youth council, which consisted of teenage volunteers who did service projects in the community.
“It kind of faded out, so we’re wanting to get a new program. People call and say, ‘Can you mow my grass?’ ‘Can you clean up around this area?’” she said.
“It is very important for the youth to have the knowledge of how volunteering helps people and how not to be so selfish — just learning how to give back,” Ross said.
“With that, too, we’re hoping in the future to get a Boys & Girls Club and do tutoring here. There are several new programs we’d like to run here.
“I’ve always been the type to go for what I want, so that’s exciting.”
She plans to add co-ed adult volleyball and adult basketball through the community center.
“We haven’t had our own facility,” she said. Acquiring C4 will allow the department to add those programs, as well as youth dances, she said.
“I’ve spoken to a DJ already,” she said. Ross would like to see more movie nights at the community center, as well as a senior lunch every quarter. Even though she feels connected to the youth, the senior citizens are special to her, too.
“I love them,” she said. “There’s so much to learn by talking to them. They have so much experience. The youth, you never know what they’re going to say. [The seniors], there’s so much behind them, and it influences me, and they’re so appreciative. If they have a problem, they’ll come to me.”
Ross said that when Tarrant started talking about retiring, she knew she wanted the director’s position.
“He prepared me very well for this opportunity, even though it was sooner than expected,” Ross said.
“It kind of went from program director to assistant park director. What he did daily, I was right there with him.
“I feel happy for Larry’s opportunity and sad at the same time. I know he’s just a phone call away. I probably couldn’t have picked a better job for myself. I really enjoy this community.”
Tarrant has no qualms about Ross’ ability to run the department, and he sees her age as a benefit.
“She’s young; she’s got a lot of good ideas she’s going to bring to the table,” Tarrant said.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.