[From my June 24 article in the Colchester Bulletin]
There is nothing constant except change. Once again, our Parks and Recreation family is experiencing turnover. Chris Woodside, our Recreation Specialist for the past two years, is moving on to new opportunities.
When our panel of interviewers first met Chris back in 2008, it was unanimous that he would be an excellent fit for our team. His passion, experience, honesty and humor were just what we were looking for. In fact, we quickly offered him the position that evening, as we did not want to lose him to another town.
Since then, Chris has been a devoted contributor to the Colchester Parks & Recreation Department. Like his predecessors, Chris brought a unique perspective to the position and made it his own. He developed new and exciting offerings to complement the wide variety of programs and events already provided by our department.
From adult sports leagues, such as flag football and basketball, to fun and educational afterschool programs like Sciensational Workshops, Chris sought out new ways to keep the Colchester community active and involved. However, his greatest legacy will surely be the Halloween Trick or Truck event, which was a smashing success in its inaugural year last fall. This year’s event will no doubt eclipse the astounding 90 cars that participated last Halloween.
Over the past year, Chris has been working towards his Master’s degree in Sports Management at UConn. For the upcoming year he has been selected for a Graduate Assistantship, where he will oversee the club sports teams for the school. This will be an excellent opportunity and we wish him will. Our loss is certainly UConn’s gain.
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Though tomorrow is Chris’ last day, I am certain that this is not the last we will hear of him. His enthusiasm and passion for youth sports will take him far.
While we are saddened at losing Chris, we are also excited about the new directions that our department will no doubt take as a new member comes aboard. As Chris gave us sufficient notice of his planned departure, we were able to minimize the time that we would be without assistance during this hectic time of year.
Once again, the interview panel was blown away by one of the candidates to fill this position. And once again, we wasted little time in securing him as the newest member of our family. On July 6, Joshua Medeiros will come aboard as our new Recreation Specialist.
Josh comes to us after working for many years with both Groton Parks and Recreation and Haddam-Killingworth Recreation. While his strengths are in camps and aquatics, Josh is excited to branch out and take on the many new roles and responsibilities that our department will provide. I am sure that in no time at all, he will have a major impact on our department as we continue to evolve.
I invite you to stop by the office in July to welcome Josh aboard. I know he will be eager to meet everyone as he embarks on this next chapter in his career. And feel free to call or stop by this week to wish Chris luck as he moves on to his newest adventure.
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