Brownsville/Haywood County, Tennessee - Haywood County

Brownsville-Haywood County Parks and Recreation Department
Administrative Office
100 Boyd Avenue
Brownsville, TN 38012
Phone: - 731-772-6693
Fax: 731-779-0140
Cell: 731-780-3311
E-mail: bhcpr@newwavecomm.net
Director: Nancy K. Cates

College Hill Museum
127 North Grand Avenue
Brownsville, TN 38012
Phone: 731-772-4883
Theater office: 731-772-1893
Cultural Arts Supervisor: Betsy Thornton

Members of the Haywood County Parks and Recreation Staff are (front row, from left) Betsy Thornton, Arts Council Director; Nancy Cates, Director; Melba Mitchell, Office Manager; and Jerry Johnson, Ground Maintenance; (back row) Betty DeLaney, Housekeeping; Tommy Waddell, Maintenance Supervisor; Pete Padilla, Ground Maintenance; Lonnell Rogers, Building Maintenance; and Richard Henderson, Ground Maintenance. Not pictured are Tim Roten, Ground Maintenance; and Henry Jones, Housekeeping.

The Brownsville/Haywood County Parks and Recreation was formed by a group of individuals in 1979 to serve all the citizens of Brownsville and Haywood County. The board has five members, and they meet monthly, every third Monday at 5 p.m. at the Parks and Recreation building. All meetings are open to the public. Conservation Board members are Chairman: Carolyn Flagg, Chris Lea, Mike Matheny, Kathy Ward and Jan Dennis.

The Conservation Board governs the Brownsville-Haywood County Parks and Recreation Department. The board has five members and they meet monthly, every third Monday at 5 p.m. at the Parks and Recreation Administration building. All meetings are open to the public. Conservation Board members are Chairman Jacob Bond, Mike Matheny, Jerry McClinton, Sharon Harley and Chris Lea.

The Parks and Recreation Department employs 10 full-time and four part-time. Melba Mitchell is administrative assistant, Tommy Waddell is turf manager, and Lonnell Rogers is in maintenance. Groundskeepers are Jerry Johnson, Pete Padilla, Richard Henderson and Tim Roten. The housekeeping staff includes Betty LeLaney, Henry Jones and Left Boyland.

The Parks and Recreation Department has a Summer Food Service Program that serves about 40,000 meals to children 18 and under while school is out for the summer. We also run a summer camp and serve between 80 and 100 children each summer.

The Parks and Recreation Department also co-sponsors several charitable and community events, such as the American Cancer Relay for Life event, throughout the year with local groups and organizations.

Anyone interested in using the Brownsville-Haywood County Parks and Recreation facilities may call 731-772-6693 for more information.

The Ann L. Marks Performing Arts Theater seats 420 people. This building, which is one of the counties' oldest, is used for various activities such as high school plays, dance recitals, gospel singing, and various other activities that the Brownsville-Haywood County Arts Council sponsors and brings into the community.

College Hill Center
The center has a full kitchen and a meeting room that will seat from 90 to 110 people. It houses three museums, the Felsenthal Lincoln Collection, the Haywood County Museum and the Haywood County Sports Museum.

Betsy Thornton, Cultural Arts Supervisor

Betsy Thornton is the Cultural Arts Supervisor for the Brownsville-Haywood County Parks and Recreation Department. She has an office in the historic College Hill Center building. Mrs. Thornton has also been the director for the Brownsville-Haywood County Arts Council since 1993. The partnership between these two organizations has been advantageous for both - making the local arts council more visible and active through its participation in community programs and partnerships.

The Arts Council, comprised of the supervisor and a 20-member board, meets monthly to plan and implement programs for the community.

Among the events they sponsor is the Arts in the Schools program that plans events for the county's six schools each year. Students have enjoyed productions such as Showagon of Theatre Memphis's "Grimm Forever After," which was presented to kindergartners; "Shakespeare Express" for high school students; UT Martin's Steel Band's presentation of "Musica Celebrations of Africa" for middle school and junior high students; and The Art Center of Cannon County's productions of "School House Rock" and "Ransom of Red Chief."

Samples of past events are the community production of "Annie," the community musical "A Broadway Review," Springer Theatrical of Columbus, Georgia, on tour with "Closer Walk with Patsy Cline," the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and the Art Center of Cannon County has brought "Driving Miss Daisy" and "God's Man in Texas."

The Arts Council also presents a Haywood High School graduating senior, majoring in the fine arts, with a $1,000 scholarship each year. Recipients may apply for additional scholarship money in their sophomore, junior and senior years of college if they retain a 3.0 GPA and continue as an art major.

The Arts Council has been fortunate to receive grants from the Tennessee Arts Commission to help fund many events. Grants have helped with programming, technical assistance, touring artists and Tennessee artists.

College Hill Cafeteria
This building, which also has a full kitchen, has seating capacity of about 120 people. It also has several offices that are used by Southwest Human Resource Agency for Head Start classes.

In addition, the College Hill Center has another building which houses the Brownsville-Haywood County Senior Center, and it has four tennis courts with lights, and one ball field.

East Side Complex
The East Side Complex has two adult softball fields with concession stand and bathrooms, soccer fields and a horse arena with a concession stand that has bathrooms.

Volunteer Park Complex
The Volunteer Park Complex has four baseball fields, used by the Dixie Youth and Boys leagues and Volunteer Park with 2 pavilions, restrooms and a playground. The pavilions can be reserved for family gatherings.

Now officially open to the public, The Park of Dreams is a 8,000 square foot playground designed to be accessible to the special needs of children with disabilities while maintaining its main purpose to encourage the inclusion of ALL CHILDREN at playtime. The project is a result of a three year effort made by a committee of 15 local citizens who saw a need and decided to rally the community behind their vision. Funding for this project came from the State of Tennessee LPRF Grant, the City of Brownsville, Haywood County, and private donations raised by the committee. The Park of Dreams is located in the Industrial Park. For more information, call 772-6693.

Methodist Hospital Softball Complex
The Methodist Hospital Softball Complex has four softball fields, used by the Dixie Girls Softball league and the Haywood Junior High and Haywood High School girls softball teams.

Parks and Recreation Main Office Complex
Included in the Brownsville-Haywood County Parks and Recreation Main Office Complex are one ball field, a swimming pool, a playground, the administrative office for the department, and it has a meeting room with a full kitchen that will seat about 200 people. Additional offices in this building are used by other agencies. The swimming pool is available for private rental for pool parties from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Woodmen of the World Building
The Parks and Recreation has an agreement with the Woodmen of the World of Brownsville to operate and maintain the WOW building with a percent of the income paid to WOW. This building, which has a full kitchen, will seat about 100 people.

Northside Park
This park was just completed in June 2006 and has two full-size outdoor basketball courts with one court that can be used for volleyball, and a playground and pavilion.

The Parks and Recreation Department also has three other parks in Haywood County that we help maintain along with the community where the parks are located. They are, Douglas Park, Pilgrim's Rest Park and Forked Deer Park. Each of these parks has walking tracks, playgrounds and picnic areas.