Daleville Rec Center open for business

Tina Cannon strives to make a difference in the lives of the Daleville children and making the community center the best it can be is her way of doing that.

Cannon is the director and administrator of the Daleville Recreation Center. She, Assistant Director and Sports Coordinator Richard Jones and the center staff used the state mandated, COVID-19 created facilities shutdown to give the building on Warhawk Drive in Daleville a facelift.

Floors were stripped and re-waxed. Walls were painted. New motivation slogans were hand painted on the walls.

“We used the shut-down time to give the center a new look,” Cannon said. “The recreation staff worked very hard to make much needed changes to the center.

“I would like to thank my whole staff because without them the impossible cannot be possible,” Cannon said about James Meissner, maintenance supervisor; Mary Thompkin and Kelsey Richman, recreational aides; and Alina Guy and Darwin Mason, seasonal recreational aides. “Without the hard work, dedication and determination they put into this place, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Cannon and Jones want the center to be a place the kids and the city of Daleville can be proud of. Both grew up as members of the Daleville Recreation Center. “We want to have a place for the children to go,” Cannon said. “That’s what we are aiming for because when we grew up, this was the place to be where parents don’t have to worry about their kids getting in the streets. They can say, ‘Mom, you know I’m at the community center,’ and mom knows they are okay.”

The building is named for former recreation center director Billy Adkins who died in 1984 at the age of 50. “This facility was his dream. This was his legacy,” Cannon said. “We strive to honor that.”

The membership fee is $5 for a year or $1 a day.

There are new guidelines in accordance with the state-mandated “Safer at Home Order,” Cannon said. They include social distancing of six feet and face masks are required to enter the building. “You may remove your mask once inside but you must remain six feet from everyone. If you are coming in contact closer than six feet, then you must put the mask back on.”

An employee will take the temperature of each person entering the rec center, Cannon said. “If your temperature is higher than the guidelines you will be asked to leave the building.

Cannon encourages those with questions to call the recreation department at (334) 598-3111 or visit the department’s Facebook page.

“We are just a community working together trying to keep things going for the children,” Cannon said. “We’re helping each other out because we all want a place for our kids to come together. That is the key to everything we do.”