Our Parks, Our Stories: Reggie Jarrett

Reggie, Farview Parkkeeper, Park Board staff since 1993

“These are a couple of the pictures I’ve taken over the years from the top of the hill at Farview Park. I’ve been at Farview for 17 years now, so I couldn’t even tell you how many times I’ve walked up that hill. As I’m out working, I’ll see the sunrise every morning.  I am able to appreciate how beautiful the view is from the top of the hill at Farview park, so I decided to try and capture this by taking pictures of the sunrise at 5 to 10 minute intervals every morning. It is interesting to me to watch how a cloudy night can produce an even more vibrant sunrise with so many deep shades of reds and yellows. I’ve been able to capture these fantastic views for about 3 years now.

I’m in my 30th year with the Minneapolis Park Board and I’ve worked throughout the city of Minneapolis.  I grew up in the city of Chicago and we didn’t have the fantastic park system we have now in Minneapolis. As I visited the north Minneapolis parks I realized it wasn’t as elaborate as the south Minneapolis park system. So I thought I would be able to make a bigger difference by coming to the north side. I’ve enjoyed  bringing additional services and experiences to the north Minneapolis neighborhoods.

 It’s amazing for me to watch the children come through Farview park as early as at 10 years old and be able to watch them grow up and train throughout the years.  Then all of a sudden, 5 or 6 years later, after we’ve watched them work out day after day throughout the summer and they even keep coming in at night and on the weekends to be trained, we watch them move on to have athletic careers. At last count that I know of, we have had 5 men and women go to play for the NBA & WNBA. We’ve also seen 3 football players go to the NFL. In addition, many more have gone on to play professionally overseas. It’s very special for me to be at Farview.”