By LINDA CHION KENNEY
Kisha Perry of Riverview is tickled pink that her first job as a supervisor for Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation was at the center she attended as a kid. It was the Nuccio Recreation Center in Tampa, down the road from her alma mater, King High School, where she earned her diploma in 1993.
Today, she’s recreation program supervisor at the Gardenville Recreation Center in Gibsonton, where her enthusiasm for her staff, the kids, the seniors and everybody else who walks through the doors at 6219 Symmes Road is nothing short of electric.
Photo Credit: Linda Chion Kenney
Inside the Gardenville Recreation Center gym building is Kisha Perry of Riverview, the center’s recreation program supervisor.
“As a senior citizen, when you’re sitting at home and you’re by yourself, you can get into those dark places,” said Perry, who at age 19 got her first job with parks and recreation. “But if you know you have that one place you can go to, where you can smile and laugh and create memories, and it feels like you have a sense of belonging, that’s important to me.”
But it’s not only her senior population that brings out the heart in Perry.
“I feel that way even with the children,” Perry said. “The parents say, ‘Oh my gosh, my kids love it here.’ Why wouldn’t they? Number one, they’re going to be shown love. Number two, they’re going to be in a place where they feel like they belong.”
It’s not just the programming for everybody from infants to seniors that drives the work at Gardenville, a three-building campus that includes the main recreation center, the gym and the historic old Gibsonton school, which the county’s Department of Aging uses to provide “dining and other programming for more older, sedentary seniors,” Perry said.
“Gardenville has a variety of offerings, but for me, personally, it’s the heart of the staff that is the draw,” Perry said. “We have a heart for the people. We have a heart to love, encourage, support and build those relationships. Having that team that cares about the community is what makes us different.”
The mission “to create enjoyable experiences” is deeply rooted in Perry’s upbringing.
“I actually am a parks and rec kid,” Perry said. “It’s in my blood. Growing up in parks and recreation, it helped shape me to be the woman that I am now. I had some dynamic coaches who invested in me and taught me the value of getting out and having fun and playing.”
Toward that end, the Gardenville Recreation Center offers a wide range of programming, including the emerging adult men’s basketball league, the walking club, senior socials, fitness and dance classes, table tennis, White Elephant Bing-Jo, Mahjong, yoga, pop-up easel painting, quarterly family game nights, afterschool programming and open gym for volleyball, pickleball, basketball and netball. Upcoming community events include Movie in the Park Night in November and a holiday market in December.
“Quality of life, that’s what it’s all about,” Perry said. “We are social beings. We should not be isolated.”
Indeed, that was not the case during the onset and unfolding of the coronavirus pandemic, which after initial lockdowns saw children’s programming drop to as low as six or nine children in the gym at one time.
“COVID shut us down and we had to hit the reset button, but now we are getting people who are ready to get back out there and get active,” Perry said. “This summer we came back full blast, taking in 196 kids, where at times during COVID we were seeing 35 or 50 kids total.”
Photo Credit: Linda Chion Kenney
Kisha Perry, recreation program supervisor, stands before a painting made by kids at the Gardenville Recreation Center in Gibsonton.
Also coming through Gardenville’s doors are “people who want to volunteer and do things for fee,” Perry said. “Some people want to create a vendor opportunity to create classes that are affordable. My goal in the future is to bring in the performing arts. That’s my passion.”
Before moving to Riverview, Perry was the supervisor at the Roy Haynes Park & Recreation Center in Tampa, where she still has relationships with her seniors there. “I love those ladies,” Perry said. “We still do brunch every now and again.”
Indeed, Perry is living her passion to drive and sustain community connections.
“It’s important for us to be that central hub in the community, where people can come, have fun and create memories,” Perry said. “Our mission is to create enjoyable experiences for people and the community.”
A big draw is afterschool programming, offered on a sliding-scale fee basis, capping at $38 per week. Students on the reduced and free lunch program in school are charged $30 and $20, respectively. “You cannot find an afterschool program where you can pay those fees to have care for your children from 2 to 6 p.m., and on the days there is no school, we’re still here, from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” Perry said.
For more on Gardenville and other county recreation centers and afterschool programs, visit www.HCFLGov.net and search for the center in question. Call Gardenville at (813)-672-1120.
