Bridgette Thompson Explains How Parks And Rec Builds Community

A great community doesn’t run on luck, it runs on people who plan, coordinate, troubleshoot, and still show up with a smile when the gates open. We’re celebrating a Hometown Hero whose work touches thousands of Henderson County families every year: Bridgette Thompson, Special Events Coordinator for Henderson County Parks and Recreation. If you’ve ever enjoyed Treat Street, the Easter egg hunt, Santa on the Square, New Year’s Eve festivities, or movies in the park, you’ve felt the impact of her work.

Bridgette walks us through what most of us never see: the behind-the-scenes planning, the long timelines, and the partnerships that make public events safe and memorable. We talk about coordinating with law enforcement, fire departments, public works, county teams, volunteers, vendors, and sponsors, plus what it takes to keep these community traditions welcoming as Hendersonville and the surrounding area continue to grow.

We also look ahead to July 4 with the added significance of America 250, and why this celebration is a chance to create something both fun and meaningful. Bridgette shares her own story too, from starting as a teen counselor to building a career in parks and recreation management right here at home, and the moments that remind her why the work matters when kids return year after year with their own families.

If you want to get involved, we share how to volunteer and support Henderson County Parks and Rec. Subscribe for more local stories, share this with someone who loves Western North Carolina community events, and leave a review so more listeners can find the Hometown Hero Series.

Transcript

Springtime And Radio Milestone

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The George Real Estate Group Radio broadcast is celebrating 10 years on WHKP. The George Real Estate Group is celebrating 10 years on the radio live every Thursday morning at 10.05 on WHKP 107.7 FM and AM 1450, and streaming online at WHKP.com. Each Friday morning at 845, the George Real Estate Group presents the Hometown Hero Award to someone in our community who goes above and beyond to make our hometown a better place to live. Here's this week's Hometown Hero Show. It's 845, and it's time for our George Real Estate Group, Hometown Hero Salute, and it's always a joy to welcome you, Mike Side, Noah George.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Good morning and happy Friday. And it's a it is a privilege and honor to be here every Friday morning sponsoring the Hometown Heroes series.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

I played a song earlier this morning by Tony Bennett. That's the lyric was If I rule the world, every day would be the first day of spring. Does that say it all? I love it. I love it. Springtime is here. It's here, man. It's uh we're about exactly two hours away from the official spring equinox at 10 46 this morning. So uh after a a pretty uh long and harsh winter, I'm ready for spring. How about you? Absolutely. Well, I was joking, we we got all four seasons in one week.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Uh the last several times. Yeah, several times. Uh in those big swings from the eighties to the thirties, and you know, and our four seasons is what makes our area uh amazing. It really is. Uh the quality of life, the the mild climate, you know, overall. The and then ultimately the the community here and the people that live here and the people that uh grew up here and multiple generations, and then the the families that move into the area, the retirees that move here, it's uh it's a special place.

Real Estate Help Beyond Buying

SPEAKER_00 2:04

It really, really is, with uh a strong industry uh part of our economy, a strong part of tourism and retirement and agriculture. It's it's got all of the ingredients.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

All of it in the secret south. I mean, the the you know and I hear all the time from clients that move here, they they want to move and shut the door behind them, but but if if somebody would have done that to them, they wouldn't have made it here easier.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

But uh it's amazing. It's a and truly it's uh we get to interact and help so many people with their buying and selling. We know regardless of the interest rates, regardless of the economy, regardless of you know, whatever's going on, life happens, therefore real estate happens. And we've had the privilege and honor of helping over 1,600 families throughout the years with their real estate needs, buying, selling, uh, investing in real estate. We help also clients with their estate planning in regards to real estate or their tax strategies in regards to real estate. I mean, really all encompassing, but it's we have an incredible team, we have incredible staff, and we're so grateful. And ultimately it's our clients that that make it all amazing.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

And I know you guys are really busy now that uh spring has popped.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Well, we've been busy. I mean, that's an amazing thing too. Even in January and February, we've had an incredible start to the year. So we're grateful for that. So if if our cli if you're listening and curious about what your home is worth, if you're curious, you know, about you know planning ahead with your estate in regards to your real estate, if you're thinking about tax implications with real estate, whether it's your personal or your investment real estate or you know, whatever the situation it might be. I mean, if you're curious what what the real estate market's doing in regards to your unique situation, your unique home, uh, we'd love to have the conversation. There's no pressure, there's no costs, there's no obligation. You can find us online at realestatebygreg.com. We podcast all of our radio shows. You can find us in in this show too on your favorite podcast platform, the George Old State Group uh radio show with the Hometown Hero Series. And again, it's uh it's not lost to me. It w it is an honor to to sponsor the Hometown Heroes series. You and I get to meet amazing uh men and women serving this community, whether it's full time or volunteering and or those that have been in service. I mean, it's it's an amazing uh privilege for you and I to do this every Friday morning.

Finding Listings And Open Houses

SPEAKER_00 4:13

I love doing it, I really do. And speaking of your website, I've been perusing your website quite a bit lately.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

You've got listings all over We d we do actually our listing actually is a syndication. You can see properties from from Charlotte all the way over to Western North Carolina and even the upstate South Carolina. So yeah, it's a great tool, and and certainly a lot of people's first uh start of their home buying process is looking online.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Yeah, yeah, that's what I've been doing.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Yeah, yeah, it's it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

And you can mark your favorites on there.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

That's right. You can see the photos, and then ultimately scheduling uh uh a time to go see the properties when when you're ready. And we have incredible lenders, we have incredible agents that can help facilitate it. So whatever uh you're looking to accomplish, we can help.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Any uh open houses this weekend that you come to mind?

SPEAKER_01 5:02

So open houses uh you can follow us on Facebook for on for our open house announcements with Facebook and Instagram. And uh we have those always in our new listings are posted on there too. Uh so all that would be on our Facebook page and uh you know our open house announcements.

Meet Bridget Thompson From Parks

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Super. Bridget Thompson, how are you?

SPEAKER_02 5:21

I'm doing well. Thank you for having me today.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Well, it is a pleasure to meet you and pleasure to have you. You are officially the special events coordinator for Henderson County Parks and Rec, right?

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Uh that's correct.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

Did I get it right? That's uh that's a big title, and and and I can see lots of uh uh lines on the flow chart there from what you do. You've got your hands in a lot of ties.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

I do. I um being the special events coordinator um serving for Henderson County, I get to create uh events for the community. Some of the the favorite events for our community, like Easter egg hunt. We have that coming up July 4th, Treat Street, we do Santa on the Square, New Year's Eve, uh movies in the park series.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Wow. Um you're busy.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

Yeah. I I spend a lot of my time planning, and then um, of course, during event time, that's always a fun time to get out in the community and and see the community come together and see the smiles on their faces and the families making memories together. That's always special.

The Work Behind Community Events

SPEAKER_01 6:39

A lot of people probably don't realize the amount of effort and work that goes into preparing and planning these events.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Yes, there's a lot of behind the scenes um planning for these events. We work closely with lots of different organizations and partners, um, law enforcement, fire department, public works, the city, other county departments, volunteers, vendors, uh sponsors, all sorts of um, you know, leaders to help bring these events and make them happen for the community.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Wow, that's a lot. Um what are some of the biggest projects you've worked on in the past years?

SPEAKER_02 7:25

I would say uh July 4th is definitely at the top of that. That's a big one. Treat Street is also a big one for Halloween. Um so those two I would say are are at the top of the list on that.

July 4 Plans And America 250

SPEAKER_00 7:39

And I'm bet uh I hear uh your uh Bruce Gillum and and Mike Morgan both with the county uh talk about the America 250 celebration that's coming up this July 4th. It's gonna be a special Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

So this year we uh the Jul July 4th will be extra special. Um we are gonna add the America 250 component to this year's celebration to celebrate the 250th year of the United States, and so we're working hard to bring extra uh meaningful planning into the event and some extra events um and things going on for for the July 4th this year.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

It'll be a big one, I'm sure. How did you uh tell us about yourself and how you got started in doing what you do?

SPEAKER_02 8:31

So I've been with um the department and the position I'm currently in for 25 years. Oh my god. Yeah. Um, but before that, when I was a teenager, I started working with a department as a day camp counselor and a tumbling instructor. Um then I went on to Western Carolina University where I studied parks and recreation management. I did my internship with this department. And then once I completed my degree, I started my career in 2001 with parks and recreation. So literally, parks and recreation has been a part of my life for a long time. It's actually raised to me, I I like to say sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

That's amazing. Are you originally from Henderson County?

SPEAKER_02 9:20

I am originally from Henderson County.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

And why is Henderson County so special to you? Like, I mean, again, it's you're serving the community, but I mean, can you tell us more about your Yeah?

SPEAKER_02 9:30

I I was born and raised here. The community is extremely special to me. It's a great community to live in, great folks. Um, I love what I do. I love being able to create these uh events and have opportunities for families to come together and you know create special memories. It's a wonderful community to live in.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

I'm I'm a little biased. I think we're all a little biased here.

Growing Parks With A Growing County

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Yeah, yeah. I think you got three salespeople for uh the parks and rec speaking of the parks and rec department, uh that that's another area that this county does an incredible job, in my opinion, of the parks and the recreation that's uh they're constantly looking for new places, uh the Berkeley Park expansion and and complex that's in process over there now. Jackson Park, there's nothing like Jackson Park, it's a beautiful place.

SPEAKER_02 10:31

It is, yeah. We're always looking for ways to improve our department, to grow, um, to create new events and new programs. And as the community grows and as there's different needs that that come up, we we really work hard to um try to accommodate all of those needs and and help our community in every way that we can.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

It's pretty obvious. Uh it really is really.

The Moments That Make It Worthwhile

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Well the investment that our our county it puts back in, I mean, for the community that we have, it's it's very evident. Is there a moment you remember in your career where you thought that this is why I do what I do?

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Oh, there's many moments. Um I I would say probably at the top is at some at the events when you see the families, you see the kids, the smiles on their faces. You might see grandparents, parents, um, kids, neighbors, all of them come together in one um space and they're all enjoying those activities together. And those are the moments where you're like, okay, this is why I do what I do. These people are are creating memories. And some of those events are traditions for those families that they come back to year after year after year. And I see I see kids who start in our programs at a small age and they come back year after year, and they're teenagers, or they're even older and they bring their own kids back to these events. Wow. And th those are special moments.

Family Life And Volunteer Needs

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Yeah. Yeah, that's you obviously attend every event that you uh have a hand in, right? I do, yes. So you you on the go a lot. Yes. Tell us about your family here in Henderson County.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Well, I am very fortunate to have a three-year-old toddler. Um, my husband and I, we we live here um in Hendersonville. Um my toddler, my three-year-old, keeps me busy. He has tons of energy. It's so much fun. Um, being a mom is really, really probably the best job that I've ever had. I I just love it.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

All right. I can see that glow in your eyes. Well, gosh, Bridget, uh, we've just got a couple of minutes left to uh wrap things up. Uh I I would imagine that uh you can always use some help putting on these events if people want to volunteer.

SPEAKER_02 13:07

Yes, absolutely. We could always use volunteers if anyone is interested in volunteering or helping with any of our programs. They're more than welcome, and we we invite you to come to call. You could email us. Um, my email is bthompson at Henderson County NC.gov. Uh the department's phone number is 828-697-4884. We would be happy to have you come and volunteer and help us with any event that we have going on.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Super. Well, thank you for what you do. I'm grateful to you. And uh Bruce Gillam is the head of the department, and and uh he recommended you for this uh honor today, and we have uh some certificates there that we'd like to present to you, and uh and just a small token of our appreciation.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Thank you. Well, it's an honor, and honestly, I'm I'm a little humbled, and this award definitely goes to the Parks and Rec department um for all they do, all of our all of our partnerships. Um goodness, I I'm humbled. I am honored. Thank you so much. We're grateful, and thank you, Bruce, for for nominating me. Um, I really enjoy working with him and all of the folks at Parks and Recreation.

Award Thanks And Wrap Up

SPEAKER_00 14:25

Super duper. Well, uh Noah, we've got to wrap up here for about 45 seconds or so. Uh tell us how we get in touch with you guys.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

Well, again, it's a privilege and honor to sponsor the Hometown Hero Series. You can call us directly at 828-393-0134. And it really is these events that sometimes there's our clients' first experiences with Henderson County, so it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

I know you've bound to uh in your real estate business uh talk to people who who fall in love with us because of Apple festivals and rhythm and blues and all of it. All of it, yeah. Well, uh, you guys are located Flat Rock.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Flat Rock find is stop by and visit us. We're in Flat Rock on Rainbow Row, and of course, uh we love serving the community, so uh again, thankful to be here.

How To Listen And Reach Out

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Join us next Friday morning at 845 for the George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero Series. The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat Rock, North Carolina, near Hendersonville in Henderson County. You can find them online at realestatebygreg.com. The George Real Estate Group can be reached at 828-3930134 or stop by their office at 2720 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, North Carolina. Tune in live each week on Thursdays at 1005 AM on WHKP 107.7 FM and 1450 A.m. or stream online at WHKP.com or download these podcasts wherever you get your podcasts. The George Real Estate Group brings you the WHKP Hometown Hero Series every Friday morning at 8.45.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Maybe the house feels a little too big these days. The stairs a little steeper. The pace of life a little too fast. But what if your next move wasn't about letting go? It was about making space for peace, for freedom, for what matters most. At the George Real Estate Group, we understand that real estate isn't just about the house. It's about transitions, timing, and trust. We've helped thousands of families in Western North Carolina make smart, thoughtful moves. Closer to nature, closer to family, closer to home. So when you're ready to ride-size, simplify, or start fresh, we'll be here. The George Real Estate Group. Local, trusted, proven. Call us today, 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygreg.com because your next chapter deserves to feel just right.