June 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 13

Remembering Sandra 'Sandy' MacDiarmid

" Sandy MacDiarmid was an
outstanding recreation and park
professional, " says Tony Black,
executive director of JRPD. " Sandy's impact on our department and
our community was immeasurable.
[She] was a very talented and multifaceted professional. Sandy worked
with numerous community-based
organizations and her involvement
always guaranteed that their projects would be a success. Sandy is
truly missed by our department
and our community. "
MacDiarmid, an Illinois native,
began her career as a nature, wildlife and portrait artist. After relocating to Jackson, MacDiarmid
took a position with JRPD as an
instructor for both child and adult
art classes. Over the years, her role
evolved to include contract instructor, summer camp arts and crafts
director, set and costume designer
for JRPD's theater productions,
program administrator, community education director and director
of the Nature Park and Raptor
Sanctuary, among others. Subsequently, MacDiarmid became the
superintendent of recreation for
the city of Jackson.
During her tenure as superintendent, she implemented a wellness
program, the JumpStart Jackson
initiative. " The JumpStart Jackson initiative began in 2007 in response to a city council directive
to create a task force addressing

the burgeoning childhood obesity
problem in Jackson, and Tennessee
as a whole, " said MacDiarmid in a
2015 interview with Parks & Recreation magazine (nrpa.org/Sandra
MacDiarmid). " At first, we anticipated negative pushback from the
community - or at least antipathy
with the community facing many
more immediate, serious issues of
crime, poverty and unemployment.
We kicked off the initiative with a
community-wide Wellness Walk
and were amazed that more than
1,000 people and school children
came out to march for health and
wellness. " By 2015, the initiative
had grown to include more than
2,000 participants. In the interview,
MacDiarmid also stressed the importance of community partnerships. " When we first began our
JumpStart Jackson community
health and wellness initiative, we
found many groups and agencies
concerned with improving health
and wellness opportunities in our
community, but everyone was
working within their own small
'silos.' JumpStart Jackson provided a coming together and common
ground for all to achieve more together, " she said.
In 2017, MacDiarmid assisted
NRPA in creating a video highlighting the importance of the
Commit to Health initiative (tiny
url.com/4ufr99kd). " Sandy was
an early champion of [NRPA's]

PHOTO COURTESY OF JACKSON RECREATION AND PARKS DEPARTMENT

n Wednesday, January 13, 2021, the field of parks and recreation lost Sandra " Sandy " MacDiarmid, former superintendent for the Jackson (Tennessee) Recreation and Parks Department (JRPD) and a dedicated champion of health and wellness
for her community.

Sandra " Sandy " MacDiarmid, former
superintendent for the Jackson (Tennessee) Recreation and Parks Department.

Commit to Health [initiative], "
says Allison Colman, NRPA's director of health. " She was absolutely dedicated to youth and making her community a better place,
spending 33 years of her life with
the [Jackson] recreation and parks
department. "
MacDiarmid is remembered as
an " outdoors woman, " a " courageous adventurer, " a " compassionate teacher " and a " perpetual student of life " (tinyurl.com/
whtu5npc). Her dedication to the
field of parks and recreation and
her commitment to furthering
health and wellness will be greatly missed.

PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N .O R G | J U N E 2 02 1 |

Parks & Recreation

http://www.nrpa.org/SandraMacDiarmid http://www.nrpa.org/SandraMacDiarmid https://www.tinyurl.com/whtu5npc https://www.tinyurl.com/whtu5npc http://www.url.com/4ufr99kd

June 2021 - Parks & Recreation

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