Nancy Edmonds Hanson
hansonnanc@gmail.com
Moorhead Parks and Recreation’s new recreation specialist is changing his focus.
Trevor Magnuson joined the local program this month after three years with Rochester Sports, a nonprofit group focused on attracting sports competitions to the city of Rochester, Minnesota. Allied with the local convention and visitors bureau, the group was charged with not only attracting sports tournaments to fill local hotels and boost its economy, but creating new competitions to generate even more traffic. They also managed the events they brought to the city’s calendar.
But now the Minnesota State University-Mankato graduate, who majored in sports marketing, is looking in a very different direction. He says, “Instead of drawing visitors, I’ll be focused on opportunities for local children and adults to get out and just have fun.”
In his previous job, the Minot, North Dakota, native worked mainly with those from outside his community. “I wanted to get involved – to do more for the community itself. Here, I’ll have the chance to work directly with and for Moorhead families. I’m looking forward to being more of a part of the community.”
As events specialist, Trevor’s primary focus is on the schedule of special events Parks and Recreation plans and manages every year. That includes the Moorhead Farmers Market every Tuesday in the Center Mall parking lot, beginning June 18. He’ll also be running the popular River Arts. The first of those events is scheduled June 11 in Memorial Park. Others are planned at the downtown park June 25, July 24 and Aug. 13. Another comes up July 9 at Woodlawn Park.
Trevor is one of the department’s three rec specialists. Melissa Discher works with pools, arts and other recreation programs, while Jordan Clementson supervises sports activities.
While he’ll be spending his time running special events, Trevor won’t be leaving sports entirely behind. He’s “big into basketball,” he says, as well as baseball. Looking back on his Rochester tenure, he says he’s proudest of a basketball tournament he and a colleague initiated for 4th through 8th grade teams. Dubbed the Early Bird, the tourney took place the week before Thanksgiving. Instead of presenting the winners with the same old trophy, they did something radical: Early Bird winners received frozen turkeys.
“When I said I was moving up here, my friends in Rochester couldn’t believe it. They all told me, ‘But it’s so cold up there,’” he confides. So far, he hasn’t found that to be the case: “Moorhead is a very tight-knit, welcoming community. People are very warm.”