By Matt de Simone
Botetourt County’s departments consist of hardworking, driven, and accomplished employees who continue to make Botetourt a wonderful place to live.
Parks & Recreation Director Mandy Atkins grew up in Craig County and is a Craig County High School graduate. She grew up playing softball in Cloverdale against Botetourt County teams. After high school, she graduated from James Madison University with an undergrad in Sport and Recreation Management and a graduate degree in Sport and Recreation Leadership.
Atkins met her husband, Taylor, at JMU, and during her latter days as a student in Harrisonburg, she served as Recreation Director for Shenandoah United Valley Soccer Club. Taylor was soon recruited by the University of Texas at San Antonio as a fundraiser for athletics. They moved to San Antonio in 2013. While in Texas, Atkins served as the Director of Youth and Community Programs for San Antonio Sports, a 501C3 non-profit for the San Antonio Sports Commission.
The couple spent eight years in Texas. Mandy managed to work on several significant events in San Antonio, like the 2018 NCAA Men’s Final Four basketball tournament.
“We loved it there, but we always knew we wanted to get closer to home,” Atkins stated in a recent interview.
Mandy and Taylor had their first child, James, while in San Antonio. They planned to live out in Texas for a couple of years and then return closer to Virginia due to Mandy’s and Taylor’s families still living there. They wanted to get back home and started looking for jobs in the area, but 2020 happened.
Atkins was pregnant with their second son, Harrison, during the 2020 pandemic. In October that year, Atkins saw a job opening for the Botetourt County Director of Parks & Recreation.
“I showed (the job opening) to my husband, and he said to me, ‘You have to apply,’” Atkins recalled. “I grew up in the area, so I obviously knew Botetourt. My husband had never been (in Botetourt). I fell in love with the job description and the opportunity to work in such a great place. We always knew we wanted to raise our kids in a more rural environment.”
Atkins applied and had a virtual interview with the county’s leadership staff members.
“From the first moment I met the leadership team during the virtual interview, I just knew this job would be a great fit for me,” Atkins continued. “The culture seemed exactly what I wanted to be a part of.”
In the middle of a pandemic and 25 weeks pregnant, Atkins and her husband packed up in San Antonio and set out for Botetourt County. She was excited about the opportunities awaiting her and her family. After spending a short time living in an Airbnb, they landed in Daleville, where they currently reside.
“In my opinion, it’s a recreation professional’s dream to work here in Botetourt County,” Atkins added.
Now here over a year as Botetourt County’s Director of Parks & Recreation, Atkins and her family love living in Botetourt, and she loves her job.
“I definitely took this area for granted while growing up here,” Atkins explained. “Having gone to school in Harrisonburg, I thought Harrisonburg was a big city. Then we moved to San Antonio, and we absolutely loved our time there, but there is no better place to live, work, and raise a family than Botetourt.
“The community has been so welcoming. I’ll never forget when we first moved here. One day, I was pregnant, shopping at a grocery store. A sweet woman helped me load my groceries and took my cart for me. That didn’t happen where we used to live. I think the people here are phenomenal, the culture in Botetourt County is amazing, and it’s great to live in the same place where I serve the community. My husband and I sometimes look at each other and say, ‘Can you believe we live here?’”
In her first year as director, Atkins assembled a team featuring prior members of the department and new team members. During the spring and summer, Botetourt Parks & Rec partnered with Botetourt Youth Sports providing spring sports in 2021. In the fall, Botetourt Parks & Rec successfully offered full youth athletics since the pandemic as the supportive families and booster clubs in the area welcomed a semblance of “normal.” Indoor programming followed with a successful basketball season.
Last summer, Parks & Rec launched the first “Movie in the Park” in Blue Ridge Park. The community event will become a series in 2022, kicking off on May 20 at Troutville Elementary. More “Movie in the Park” dates are forthcoming and available soon. The Parks & Rec Department presents the Troutville event in partnership with the Troutville PTA.
“Moving into this summer, we’re going to do a whole series (of movies) and will try to hold one in each of the five districts of Botetourt County,” Atkins said.
Parks & Rec will hold an Easter Egg Hunt at Blue Ridge Park on April 16 at 10 a.m. Then, on June 4, the department brings back “BOCO Wild” (formerly known as the Buchanan Fishing Carnival). This family event coincides with the free fishing weekend in Virginia, encompassing outdoor activities, wildlife education, and camping demonstrations.
For more information about Botetourt Parks & Rec activities, visit botetourtva.gov/162/parks-recreation.
