 Meet Your Community:
A partner in Stewardship -
Pat Sorise
 at Sorise wants people
to come out and play. As Director of Parks and Recreation for the
city of Tecumseh, he is always looking for a new way to bring people
out and to have fun.
“I love working with people and seeing them enjoy themselves.
They are excited when they register, and I enjoy seeing people recreate
and do something that makes them happy and that is good for them.”
Pat also enjoys the diversity of work he has had for the past sixteen
years as leader of a department in a smaller city. He moved to Tecumseh
from Ann Arbor with his family to enjoy this new opportunity. “I
get to create parks, youth programs, and music programs. The variety
and flexibility of a smaller community really appeal to me.”
Part of this diversity brought him to the Stewardship Network. Initially
interested in eradicating purple loosestrife in the parks along the
River Raisin, Pat also took an interest in native plants. Two native
plant demonstration gardens have been installed at Indian Crossing
Trails in an effort to increase public awareness and interest in native
plants, and decrease the need for mowing. Related to these gardens
a native plant sale has taken place at the park for two years running.
“The Network has so many neat offerings and native plants just
make sense. People spend so much time taking care of their lawns,
why not have something that is non-invasive and aesthetically pleasing?
I’m into low maintenance - taking that energy and using it somewhere
else.”
The City of Tecumseh has responded well to these innovations and
ideas. Other departments ask Pat about the stewardship activities,
and he feels people are interested and paying attention. According
to Pat, that allows these ideas to start to take hold not just in
the park but in the larger community, too.
And that has circled back to benefit his department. “It has
also been beneficial for the Parks and Recreation program to bring
in people that never use the parks, but are drawn here for these programs.
They discover one thing through another. They feel good about the
city, and that it’s worthwhile paying taxes to be part of it.”
“I’m really happy that Lenawee County has a group that
has the foresight to see what is needed, protect what we have, and
educate through fun activities.”
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