SHOES SQUEAK on the basketball court, water splashes over the side of the swimming pool, a fishing reel whirs as a line is cast — these activities happen all across Manchester on the daily, and Manchester Parks and Recreation Department Director A.J. Fox is right in the middle of it all. He took the job as a way to impact kids’ lives outside of school, and after 15 years with the department, he is still impacting people every day — children and adults alike.
Fox’s history with the department began while he was attending Motlow State Community College. He worked part time as a lifeguard and a front desk worker, and after attending Middle Tennessee State University and spending two years in South Pittsburgh, he returned to Manchester to continue his career. Fox spent three years as an activities coordinator, four years as a maintenance foreman, and five as an assistant director before accepting his position as director in 2021. His work, however, ranges far beyond simple administrative duties.
“Here at the department, we all have job titles, but like I tell everyone — job titles only mean something when they have to,” Fox said. “We all work together. There’s mornings that I work the front desk. I open up the building at 5 a.m. There’s evenings I close the building. We all — believe it or not — we all scrub toilets at the end of the night.”
Whether he is working the desk, lifeguarding, or running an after-school program, Fox said he tries to treat everyone as
extended family. It often becomes true, as people grow up in the department. “We share in their good times and their bad times,” Fox said. “Some of them, as they grow up here, they end up working with us, and so we get to see them through pretty much their whole childhood from birth, up to working with us, to going off to college.”
The family-friendly, fun atmosphere the department provides Manchester is one of the most important things about Fox’s job. It allows him to support the youth of the community, and help them be safer, healthier, and more knowledgeable about themselves and the environment
Fox has been a part of many youth programs during his tenure at the department, but one of his favorites has been the Outdoor Club. The Manchester Parks and Recreation Department received a grant through the health department, and Fox and another staff member started a mountain biking program. Twice a week after school, they taught kids about bike safety, trail conditions, and riding techniques as they took them out on the greenway and to other trails nearby. Eventually, another grant came in, and the department could purchase other outdoor supplies — tents, kayaks, and fishing poles, among other things — and mountain biking was rolled into the larger Outdoor Club.
“[It was] the program that I had a hand in that I enjoyed the most,” Fox said. Recreation is a key component in everyone’s life, regardless of age, and Fox works to make those opportunities available for everyone.
“What got me into this career field is being able to make [an] impact,” Fox said. “Not only [in] the youth’s lives but just the community lives — provide them an outlet to live, work, and play.”
The future is looking bright for the department as old facilities are being renovated and rejuvenated, but most of all it is bright because of the people that come together for recreation. Whether it be for a pick-up basketball game, a pickleball tournament, or a Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner, the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department brings community together until it becomes something more.
“Entertainment and community and family kind of all rolls together,” Fox said. “Everybody enjoys being able to go out and have fun, and that’s what we’re in the business of.”
The business couldn’t be in better hands. GN
Find out what the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department has to offer at www. cityofmanchestertn.com or on Facebook.
