Billy Reeves (He/Him)
Age: 29
City: Bellingham
Lived here for: 2.5 years
Originally from: Boulder, Colorado
Notable: Community enrichment/special events coordinator for Bellingham Parks and Recreation, former Colorado ski coach, avid skier
How did you become interested in working in the public recreation sphere? How long have you been in the industry?
I’ve been in the industry since, I want to say, 2017, when I started out as a ski instructor and coached little kids through mobile freestyle skiing. I got to take them to their competitions and sort of organize those competitions. So that’s how I got into coordinating [events].
I grew up in Colorado, lived there my whole life, and wanted to check out the Northwest, so I moved out here and applied as a camp counselor, so I could stay sort of in the industry and, you know, lead kids, work with kids. This position opened up as a coordinator.
What are the biggest challenges you face in organizing community-wide events?
The flagging for road closures — getting people to work the flagging and traffic control. That’s a tough challenge, but we overcome that by hiring from within, using some of our public works guys to go out there who are flagging certified.
But also getting the permits in on time with the Padden Triathlon … I need to get county permits, city permits and state permits to WSDOT … So, all these moving parts are a huge challenge, but having a list and putting it on a calendar always helps me, so I know what my deadlines are.
What aspect of your job do you enjoy the most? Why?
I enjoy the events themselves. It can be stressful leading up to the event; sometimes I won’t sleep the night before the event.
Just seeing other people have the best time makes me feel excellent. It’s like giving someone a present on Christmas and them opening that present and seeing them, their reaction, which is super rewarding.
How do you value the importance of community recreation? What do you do to specifically try and enrich participants’ experiences?
I value recreation because it brings everyone together. In this day and age, lots of people are doing things by themselves … The community side — that’s what I value with recreation, is that people are coming together for one cause.
I’m trying to fill the shoes of Lance Romo … He was hilarious and people would come to his events just to hear his pre-race speech. I’m trying to be that sort of guy with throwing jokes and making people laugh before the events.
What event (or event type) is your favorite to organize/host and why?
My favorite is Runnin’ O’ the Green because there’s a parade afterwards, and we get to do the awards ceremony in Boundary Bay [Brewery] — their beer garden. So everyone’s having a great time. And both of the races that I’ve worked since I’ve been here have been sunny.
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Billy Reeves’ name was misspelled. The story was updated to reflect this change at 6:51 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 22. Cascadia Daily News regrets this error.
