By 1808Delaware
Westerville Parks and Recreation staff members spend much of their time serving residents through classes, programs, and daily operations at the Westerville Community Center. This year, two of them also helped carry Westerville’s experience to a statewide audience.
In February, Bill Plessinger and Shane Thompson presented at the 2026 annual conference of the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association, sharing practical guidance with other parks and recreation professionals from across Ohio.
Rethinking senior center programming
Plessinger, who manages the Westerville Senior Center and Older Adults Program, brought more than three decades of parks and recreation experience to the conference. The idea for his presentation began a year earlier, during a Senior Center roundtable at the Ohio Parks and Recreation State Conference in February 2025. There, Plessinger saw an opportunity to bring senior center managers together to compare experiences, especially among communities with very different facilities, budgets, and program offerings.
“Westerville is fortunate to have a larger center,” Plessinger said. “Other centers are much smaller and are limited in what they can offer. Some municipalities have senior staff but no facility and use other buildings, churches and rented space.”
As he developed the session, Plessinger worked with staff from nearby senior centers. Together, they focused on what it takes for a senior center to move from an older facility into a new one, including the operational and programming challenges that come with that kind of transition.
The result was a presentation titled “What’s New and Old with Senior Centers,” accepted for the Senior Programming Learning Track at the OPRA conference.
Expanding adaptive and inclusive programming
Thompson, Westerville’s Adaptive/Inclusive Program Supervisor, presented on another growing area of parks and recreation work: how communities can make programming more accessible and inclusive. His session, “A Beginner’s Guide to Adaptive and Inclusive Programming,” drew a large audience at the conference.
Thompson has more than 10 years of experience working with individuals with disabilities. Before joining his current role, he spent a decade helping students and adults with developmental disabilities in classroom and day program settings.
“I wanted to create a presentation for the municipalities that do not yet offer adaptive programming, and offer some options that could help set their staff and participants up for success,” Thompson said.
During the session, Thompson addressed specialized programs, sensory-friendly events, accessible facilities and equipment, and ways staff can work more effectively with individuals with disabilities, including guidance on managing behaviors. The topic appears to have resonated beyond the conference room.
“I’ve had a few organizations follow up since then with questions or to set up meetings with me,” Thompson said.
Continuing the work at home and beyond
Both Plessinger and Thompson plan to continue supporting the community through additional classes and presentations. Their conference sessions also reflect a broader role for Westerville Parks and Recreation: not only providing services locally, but also contributing ideas and experience to the wider parks and recreation field.
The Ohio Parks and Recreation Association represents more than 2,600 professionals, board members, and corporate supporters. Its members work to expand access to quality parks and recreation opportunities across Ohio while also helping protect the state’s natural resources.
For Westerville, this year’s conference offered a chance to show how local expertise can help other communities think through some of the same questions: how to serve older adults well, how to make programs more inclusive, and how to build recreation systems that meet people where they are.
Source: City of Westerville
