McKiver reaches goal as director – Lexington Dispatch

Editors Note: The following story ran in the Feb. 26 special edition of Todays Women.

THOMASVILLE - Thomasvilles Parks and Recreation director Vickie McKiver has a true passion for her job.

McKiver has been the parks and recreation director for eight-and-a-half years. She enjoys building the trust of Thomasville citizens and making a difference in their lives.

It was always one of my goals to become a director of parks and recreation because I love working with people and I enjoy planning programs, athletic programs and special events that will enhance the life of others, she said.

McKiver said she enjoys partnering with different agencies that allows the city to build good working relationships thus enabling her department to offer programs and activities for the citizens. When she became director of Thomasville Parks and Recreation, she helped lead an effort to renovate five playgrounds by putting new equipment in each playground. The name of the playgrounds are Carver Park, Memorial Park, Central Park, Turner Street Park and Doak Park.

Doak Park is (designed) for children with disabilities and it has a rubber foundation and the other parks have kid cushion mulch for their foundation, McKiver said. We (refurbished) the windows at our recreation main office. We renovated Strickland Center and added a new shelter. We renovated the skate park and we are in the process now of renovating the gym at Central Recreation Center. We renovated the floors at Ball Park Recreation Center and we renovated the scoreboard at Finch Field. We just built a new Disc Golf Course at Memorial Park.

McKiver said she is very proud to be able to get funding and support from the Thomasville City Council, Finch Foundation, Rotary Club and Novant Health. The support enables her to be able to do the renovations to the facilities and parks.

As director, McKiver's responsibilities are preparing the annual budget requested by city manager and city council, preparing capital improvements plan for our department, presenting to the city council and recreation committee information on budgeting and other departmental matters, ensuring that revenue is properly accounted for, preparing regular reports for city council and recreation committee, overseeing all city recreation programming, overseeing marketing and publicity tied to recreation programming, assisting with fundraising initiatives for our department, supervising department staff and monitoring policy compliance while ensuring appropriate staffing levels for the usage of facilities.

McKiver said a normal workday is overseeing the budget and the operations of the parks and recreation department and supervising the recreation staff while interacting with other department heads.

Under her leadership, the city has installed a new AC unit at Ball Park Center and the recreation main office. The city also replaced lights at Cushwa Stadium.

We installed a new HVAC at Central Recreation Center, McKiver said. We are renovating the gym at Central Recreation Center with new windows, new LED lights, new doors, painted the gym, removed fans and installed windows, added new basketball brackets to our existing goals, removed the press box, painted the outside of the building, and a new wooden gym floor for basketball, volleyball and pickle ball. We renovated the equipment at our skate park, painted the foundation, installed a new entrance gate and a new sign with the rules and guidelines. We designed and installed a new Disc Golf course at Memorial Park, it is a Premiere nine-hole course.

In recognition of her work, McKiver has received the Martin Luther King Award in Thomasville. She has 34 years of service with North Carolina Recreation & Park Association. She also has received the Arts and Humanity Award for the Dot Slick Chick Cloggers.

McKiver said she has loved working for the City of Thomasville because the city is all a family. Each department is willing to help when needed, she said.

I want to thank Kelly Craver, City Manager, and Tony Jarrett, finance director, for their support, McKiver said.

McKiver graduated from High Point College, now High Point University, in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in physical education. She said her mother, Ella McLean, encouraged all of her children to get a good education, set goals and strive to achieve them.

She taught us to respect others, McKiver said.

Some of her lifes highlights include being a member of the 1978 National Championship women's basketball team at High Point College. McKiver received a basketball and volleyball scholarship from High Point College in 1976.

In her spare time, she loves to read, watch sports and spend time with her family, especially her grandson. She said her interest is to serve God and be the servant that he called her to be.

Her husband is Abraham McKiver, who works for High Point University. She has three daughters, Latasha Jacobs, an employee for State Employees Credit in Archdale; Ashley McKiver, who works at Enterprise in Charlotte; and Nora McKiver, who works at Butler High School and is training to run track professionally. Her grandson is 3-year-old Mekhi Jacobs.

Darrick Ignasiak is a freelance writer and former crime reporter for The Dispatch.

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McKiver reaches goal as director - Lexington Dispatch