Tom Simmons recently retired after 30-plus years as the Clarion recreation director. Some of you may not know that he started out here in Eagle Grove in the same position for five years prior. He left rather suddenly after being offered that job, and feels now that he really didn’t get a proper chance to say goodbye and to thank everyone who helped him achieve what he did here. He has chosen this as a way to do that.
Simmons came here from a two-year stint at Opportunity Village, where he even met the woman he would later marry. “They eventually moved me into the rec program there,” he said. “I was not a swimmer myself, but I became a swim coach and actually helped one of my swimmers to four medals!” Soon he was applying for the position in Eagle Grove.
“Even though I had never been a fulltime park & recreation director before I wanted that job so bad,” Simmons recalls. “It was in this area and a perfect fit for me.” In November of 1979, he was hired here to replace the departing Steve Fischer. “I started from scratch, and for a time wondered ‘what am I doing?’ said Simmons. “It truly was a trial and error experience for me, but I had a lot of good people that rallied around me to help out. It turned out to be truly a great time in my life, and I still have a lot of fond memories of my time in Eagle Grove.”
Simmons was a 1970 graduate of Clarion High School, and attended Iowa Central for two years followed by a year at DMACC. He graduated from Buena Vista in 1977 with a BA in physical education and an emphasis in recreation. His first office was at city hall, and by February of the following year he moved to an office adjacent to Dick Dyas in the Iowa Central building.
“Dick Dyas arranged the office move,” relates Simmons. “He was very good to me, and treated me as his equal.” In fact, Simmons added that the City rec department went in together with the community college to offer aerobic dance classes in that building. “I was also free to use empty classrooms for evening meetings to organize activities,” added Simmons.
He organized adult gym nights over that winter, and also had one of his ‘life highlight moments’ that March when he won the senior heavyweight class at an old-timers wrestling tournament in Janesville. “I was a wrestler at both Clarion High and Iowa Central,” said Simmons. “Lonnie Howell and I trained together by running the halls at Iowa Central every night. I finished in third, but actually tied the first place wrestler 1-1 in our match. That guy ended up being named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the tournament.”
He then started softball and baseball leagues for the youth that summer. A scoreboard column started appearing weekly in the Eagle, with game scores and current standings for Peewee, Midget and Junior Leagues and all compiled weekly by Simmons. “I also did the same for men’s 3 on 3 basketball and adult volleyball leagues in the winter,” he said. It could be safe to say that summer ball was his favorite time of year, as he could by busy doing something he truly enjoyed…grooming the fields. “It’s one of the passions I’ve always had, and still enjoy today,” said Simmons. “Even though it may seem like a mundane task, manicuring, dragging and chalking the fields was so much fun for me.”
The summer of 1980 brought another highlight, as he got to prepare the field that the Eagle Grove Merchants fast pitch softball team would use to take on the well-known ‘King & his Court’ traveling team. “The Merchants played a good game, but they just couldn’t beat Eddie Feigner and his four-man team,” said Simmons. The following summer brought with it a busy than usual time for Simmons, as it was also the year of the Eagle Grove Centennial.
“Park/Rec provided a number of activities for the celebration,” recalls Simmons. “A highlight for me was making two separate trips to Des Moines to appear first on the Dolph Pulliam Show, and then on the Duane and Floppy Show, to promote the centennial activities.” The long list of events for centennial-goers included both a cow chip and frying pan throw, horseshoe and archery tournaments, a century bike ride, swim events at the pool, radio-controlled model airplanes and a mini-Olympics. There were also softball and baseball tournaments for youth on up to old-timers and an all-comers track meet.
“One of my favorites was the cow chip throw,” said Simmons. “Don Callen was the Methodist minister at the time, and he gave me a name of a guy in Oklahoma that would provide cow chips. He sent them by UPS in a big box. We broke off small pieces and put them on plaques for the winners. We had a rule that you could not lick your fingers between throws.”
Simmons was always thinking about the youngest of the children, and tried to tailor activities to their ability as well. “I had qualified leaders offering summer arts & crafts, low competition games and other special events for girls and boys 5-15,” he said. “I had softball for grades 3-8 age girls, with all participants playing and learning the fundamentals of the game. The 2-8 grade boys could learn and develop their baseball skills. Again, all participants were guaranteed of playing in each game.” He also started a weekly fun and healthy activity called ‘Follow the Yellow Brick Road.’ “It was an exercise and walking program for all ages one night a week at Greenwood Park,” said Simmons.
He fondly recalls when there was an Eagle Grove Blues men’s amateur baseball team, consisting of players with either high school, college or junior college experience. “These were talented players from surrounding communities,” he said. “We were part of a league and played on Sunday afternoons, and we hosted our games at Greenwood Park. George Miller was head coach and I was his assistant. Zip Tanner was the home plate umpire for all home games.”
Another thrill for him was a trip to the old Metrodome in Minneapolis. “It was during baseball season, and Jim Wallace (former Eagle sports editor), my cousins John and Steve and I took a trip up there to visit Dick Erickson, who was the head of the grounds crew,” said Simmons. “I had about an hour with him, and he showed me his equipment. The other three got to go out into the outfield and watch the players warm up.” Soon it was time for Erickson to chalk the field in preparation for the game. “He sent us to visit the guy who was in charge of running all the technical equipment they use inside the dome. We enjoyed a good game and a good time with them.”
Winter programs also kept him busy as the activities moved indoors. Those included men’s basketball for either three-player or five-player teams, co-ed church or women’s league volleyball and open gym adult volleyball. “When I left in January 1985, we had 17 total teams participating in the women’s volleyball league,” said Simmons proudly. “I enjoyed being a part of both shuffleboard and exercises classes for senior citizens.” A memento that means a lot to him is an autographed photo of Dan Gable, even though he never got to meet him! “He was a guest speaker at the wrestling banquet so I got real excited,” said Simmons. “However, I had to supervise co-ed church volleyball league so I had Jim Wallace get me the autographed photo. I still have that picture signed by Mr. Gable!”
In January of 1985, Simmons resigned his position here to take the same job in Clarion. He must have left quite an impression in the community, according to an editorial piece written by then Eagle owner/publisher John Neibergall. He wrote, in part, “Tom Simmons is going to be missed in Eagle Grove. He brought unbounded enthusiasm to the job, backing it up with an energetically full slate of activities year-round. In his words the decision ‘was maybe the toughest one in my life because Eagle Grove has been so good to me.’ Tom has been good to Eagle Grove too. He credits the ‘people who have volunteered to make the programs succeed.’”
In February of that year, Lori Hawn was introduced as the new park/rec director for the city. “I have heard Tom is highly respected in the community, and so I want to carry on what he accomplished and build from there,” said Hawn. Big shoes to fill, but it sounded like she was up for the challenge! As for Simmons, he was grateful for everyone who helped him out during those years as they were truly the ones who made it all work. In fact, a few of them shared their thoughts on Simmons for this story.
Tom is the best of the best,” stated Mel Sampson. “He related to both kids and parents well. He was energetic, fair and personable. We hated to see him go to Clarion.”
“During Tom’s employment in Eagle Grove, he asked me to help him lay out the ball diamonds with our survey equipment,” stated Ladell Olson. “I also went to Clarion to help him when base sockets had pulled out of the ground. Tom was hard to keep up with as he ran from one spot to the next. I always enjoyed talking with him about area sports and especially wrestling. I wish him well in his retirement.”
“There are several things I can tell you about Tom,” stated Joe Chamberlin. “The first words I would use are high energy. It seemed that Tom never walked. He always seemed to run to where he was going. Another thing I remember about Tom is how he treated people. He was always kind and treated people with respect, which wasn’t always easy as a parks & rec director. Tom was also always hard working. If you wanted to do an activity for kids, he was always there to help. He was so good with the kids he worked with” “God has blessed me with a wonderful and understanding wife as well, so that I could serve others in the Eagle Grove community”, said Simmons in closing. Well said Tom, and the community appreciated what you did. Enjoy your retirement, you have earned it!
Editors Note: We are re-running this article due to updated information.
