Meet Tracey Anderson, Morton Grove Park District's New Director

Patch recently had a chance to sit down with Tracey Anderson, who has taken the helm of the Morton Grove Park District just as the busy summer season begins.

Patch: It’s nice to meet you. Tell us a little about yourself.

Anderson: Well, I was superintendent of recreation at Homewood-Flossmoor park district, and I live in Crete.

Is this the first time you’ve been a park district director?

Yes, and from what I understand, I’m the first woman director of this park district.

You’ve been here almost four weeks. What have you learned about the district?

From the park district aspect, many employees have been here for many years, and have gone through numerous transitions with leadership. Because of their dedication, they’re still here. In other places, you hear stories--people jump ship. But here, there’s a core group of  people.

The community itself has a small town feel. Families come back and raise kids and grandchildren. Everybody cares about one another. There’s the division of ‘what side of town do you live on?’, which exists everywhere, which cracks me up. I love the diversity in seeing the different ethnic groups come in. I’ve had a lot of meetings in the past three weeks. People want to know who I am, where are you from, what are you going to do?

There’s a lot of change happening. A new school superintendent (in District 67), a new mayor. Have you met the mayor and trustees?

I’ve met with the mayor and Village Administrator Ryan (Horne). They were great meetings, to understand how we can work together. We’re serving the same people, so let’s work together.

We have a new park board member that was elected, Dan Ashta. He was officially sworn in May 16th. So that’s exciting. When you have a new set of eyes looking at things, it re-energizes things, and can act as a catalyst.

Are there ways the park district might partner with the village, the schools and the library?

We have interdepartmental agreements. We have to look at how the agencies interact and serve the families which live in Morton Grove.
We have a limited resource of individuals.  We don’t have to be in competition to serve them; we can cooperate and achieve more.

I was a facilitator in corporate team building at Irons Oaks Environmental Learning Center in Olympia Fields. It’s part of the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District, a joint enterprise with them and the Olympia Fields Park District. It has an adventure center with two high ropes courses.

I worked with junior high and high school, and that morphed into working with businesses. Everybody’s trying to achieve a goal. We find a way to play to people’s assets, to use the resources we have to achieve that goal. This is a team. So I feel that the jobs I’ve had have helped me work with groups and try to figure out what is our goal and how are we going to get there.

What is your favorite sport or recreational activity?

In summer my favorite is golf, I’m itching to get out. I look forward to park district summer camps. We have such a unique ability to impact a child’s life forever. Kids watch everything we do. I can still remember when I went to camp. The lessons we offer are life changing.

Other sports or recreational activities you enjoy? I used to watch  my kids play softball.  My daughter played gymnastics, water polo, diving and softball. I also have two boys. One played tennis and the other, football and wrestling.

What’s it like at a park district at this time of year, going into summer?

For park districts, summer is the busiest. There are camps, outdoor special events, all kinds of things. During the school year, people are so busy with school, so we do most things evenings and weekends. But people are outside in summer, enjoying the parks.

I was just at the dance recital Sunday. So cute, and so many hours went into it. A lot of pride.

The other exciting thing is that we are building Oriole Pool. So it’s exciting to be a part of that from the onset. It’s completely demolished. Construction will probably start in early fall with the hope we will be ready to have a grand opening by pool season next May.  

Speaking of new projects, have you had a chance to look at the comprehensive plan yet?

Yes. Community members contribute to that--they tell us wants, needs, deficiencies. Our job as staff and board is to take that and make into short term and long term goals.

Like Niles-Morton Grove Patch on Facebook

Get Niles and Morton Grove news in a daily email from Patch.com