Parks and Rec director to retire after 25 years

WADESBORO — Jeff Waisner, director of Anson County Parks and Recreation and Buildings Maintenance, is retiring after nearly 25 years in the position during which he has added 37 new programs to the county’s recreation offerings and improved the county’s facilities.

Waisner, 64, has led a storied career that includes induction into the Wingate University Hall of Fame, two years of professional baseball, and recruiting for the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox during the period the Sox won the World Series in 2005. He sparked an Anson County sports boom in the late 90s and early 2000s despite fears that introducing soccer early on in his tenure would hurt the football team, and didn’t stop there. He added men’s basketball, swim teams, fast-pitch softball, pickleball, dance classes, reading programs and more.

Asked why he’s retiring now, Waisner said, “It’s just time to retire.” His last day is July 30.

“We added a lot of facilities and programs that I hope in my 25 years here have added the opportunity for adults and children to be able to experience some things that other counties have,” he said.

He said he’s most proud of how “pristine” the parks and rec facilities look compared to when he first got to Anson in 1996, an improvement which may be lost on the younger generation who never saw the way it used to look.

Waisner had trouble defining his feelings at the end of his career.

“It if was a job I didn’t like and I got up every morning and hated coming to work it would be one thing,” he said, adding that it’s “bittersweet” to be at the end of a job he’s enjoyed for his “entire life.”

Waisner considers his colleagues to be “family.” That family includes Wendell Small, who is the aquatic and athletic supervisor for Anson County Parks and Recreation. Small was one of Waisner’s first hires, and he’s been with him almost 24 years now, a period he said has been a “pleasure.”

Small commended Waisner’s leadership capabilities, saying that he’s not a “micro-manager” but rather someone who tells you what he expects and trusts you to figure out how to make it come to fruition.

“He’s the coach and I’m the player that runs the ball,” Small said.

Carol Smith, volunteer director of the Burnville Recreation and Learning Center, said that Waisner has always been a good person to work with and one that does all he can to help make Anson County better for all children.

“He seems to be one that tries to bring all children into learning what they are able to do physically, emotionally — and he just makes children feel good,” Smith said.