As Director of the Lexington Leisure Center, John Alexander is continuously thinking of new ways to engage the community.
“I am very excited about our disc golf camp this summer,” said Alexander, adding that the camp was inspired by his love of the sport that he wanted to bring to others.
“My friend David Hamrick and I started the Lexington Frisbee Golf Club about two years ago. We have about 50 to 60 members right now and hold weekly events and monthly tournaments. That’s where my outside-of-work passion is right now.”
A Lexington native with deep roots in the community, Alexander attended Lexington High School before going to Newberry College.
His career with Lexington County Recreation began in 1999 as an employee of the Lexington Leisure Center. He started as a camp counselor and worked in that position throughout his time in college.
“After I graduated, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and I had the opportunity to take on the afterschool and summer camp director position in West Columbia. I did that for a few years, and I was given the opportunity to move into facility administration and special programming.”
Alexander recalled that the programs offered at that time were mostly geared towards children.
“The facility was very child, full-day program focused. Since I’ve been there, our focus has shifted quite a bit,” said Alexander.
“We have more adult programming during the day, with classes like pickleball, basketball, table tennis – all sorts of activities.”
The Center is gearing up for programs for kids to participate in while school is out. “During the summertime, we run a number of special interest camps for kids, and these are usually two-to-three-hour camps,” said Alexander.
“I try to steer away from the traditional sports camps and really focus on things that aren’t typically offered. We do a lot of STEM programs. We have everything from gymnastics to E-sports. Guitar, cheerleading, and cooking camps are really big for us as well.”
Out of Alexander’s 27 years of experience in recreation, one of his favorite parts of his job is planning events for the community.
“I really enjoy doing community events, we’ve done some pretty large ones. We used to do a big flashlight Easter egg hunt where we had between 8,000 and 10,000 people participate. We also have an annual Halloween event called So the Story Goes that we host with the Lexington County Public Library and the Town of Lexington.”
Outside of work, Alexander stays busy with his wife Katie and their twin boys, Caughman and Anderson. He said, “We love taking day trips, traveling around the area. My boys love going to local parks and just being outside as a family.”