Chelsea names new Parks & Rec director

A standing-room-only crowd of over 150 people attended the Coffee with the Mayor of Chelsea event at the Chelsea Community Center Tuesday morning.

Mayor Tony Picklesimer opened the event with a brief update on the city, and how busy things have been the past year, with many things accomplished and more new projects ahead.

“Chelsea is a hot market right now, and it’s a great place to be,” Mayor Picklesimer said.

He highlighted the newly-launched "Why Chelsea?" campaign, the recent sewer system agreement, the $12.8 million capital budget and projects to come, intersection improvements in front of the City Hall, the city’s new fire truck and the new fire station on Highway 51.

“Chelsea is all about family and the way we work together as a community,” he said “I am thankful and blessed to have a staff at City Hall, the library, fire department and community center that always offers their full support.”

The event also provided the opportunity for the mayor to introduce the new Chelsea Parks & Recreation Director, Bart Pettus. Pettus will begin his new position April 1, and is relocating from Troy where he was the Adult Activities Coordinator and Pike County Lake Manager for the Troy Parks & Recreation Board.

Pettus is no stranger to the parks and recreation community. His father was the parks and recreation director in his hometown of Demopolis for two decades. Pettus graduated from Demopolis High School, where he played baseball and football. He was also a teammate of Chelsea High School head football coach Dustin Goodwin, and met his wife Megan, who was from Chelsea, while in college.

After obtaining a sports and fitness degree at Troy University, where he played shortstop for the baseball team for four seasons, he went to the Troy Parks & Recreation Center and asked to meet with the director, Dan Smith, who hired him part time. Smith was in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting to give Pettus a proper send off.

Pettus, who was surprised at the large crowd, thanked Mayor Picklesimer for the opportunity and said he was honored to be given this responsibility.

“I’ve been around parks and recreation my whole life and seen all aspects of it,” Pettus said. “I had a great opportunity to begin my career at the Troy Parks & Rec department and have learned so much in my almost ten years working there.”

Pettus said that Chelsea is a great community with great people and a great school system, and he and Megan, along with their three-year-old daughter, Bennett, are excited to be here.

In his new role, Pettus will have the opportunity to learn from someone who has a wealth of knowledge and experience of Chelsea sports: David Ingram.

“I have a lot of people to get to meet and know and relationships to build and am lucky to have David to show me a lot of things I need to know. I appreciate his time and efforts,” Pettus said.

Pettus said that Chelsea has great facilities and is excited about the new things coming up.

“The city is growing, and they are putting in new facilities to accommodate that.” he said. “I’m really looking forward to serving Chelsea to the best of my ability and am excited about this opportunity.”