On this episode of "The People Behind the Story", we talk with Bryce Wilks James River Parks Systems Superintendent, and Giles Garrison Workforce Development Manager; about the two very different challenges their respective divisions faced during the COVID pandemic, how they managed in these uncertain times and what the future holds.

Recreation staff serves on the front lines interacting with our community daily. From after-school activities to sports, summer camp, and beyond recreation staff are in the trenches executing the plans from the top and plans of their own. That daily face-to-face interaction, the personal connections with our families are at the heart of communities across the city and have created big extended families that help our children flourish.

But in March that all changed. While other businesses were able to move virtually, it presented a challenge for the heart of our department because recreating is a bit hard to do via zoom. On this episode of "The People Behind the Story", we talk with Marlon Christian and Wayne Fleming; Acting Recreation Center Supervisor and Recreation Instructor respectively.

We discuss the sudden shift in recreation, how they felt assuming the dreaded "other duties as assigned" in a pandemic, and what they think the future holds.

On the second episode of "The People Behind the Story", we talk to Kimberly Morgan, Melanie Ramos, and Jerrod Booker, the division heads of our, Sports, Recreation, and Aquatics divisions to discuss how they are getting creative serving during a pandemic, what challenges they're facing and what lies ahead.