The Temple Recreation Department has come a long way in a short period of time and now it has the hardware to prove it.

The department was recently recognized by the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association as the District 4, Class C Athletic Agency of the Year.

Longtime Temple recreation volunteer Terron Bivins was named one of the district’s four volunteers of the year.

It’s the first time Temple has ever won either award.

The city has had a full-time recreation director for less than four years.

“It’s awesome to see some changing going on and to win something Temple has never won before,” said Temple Recreation Director Thad Ferguson, who has led the department for about a year and a half.

Since Ferguson took over, the Temple Recreation Department has seen about 15 percent growth in participation. The department has added several new programs, including spring and fall youth soccer, dance and adult basketball. The department hopes to add more programs in the future, especially for adults, such as aerobics and yoga.

There was a time when parents took their kids to other recreation departments and even though that still takes place, officials are starting to see more of them come back to the city as the department improves.

“From what I hear there are still a lot of people out there going other places, but people are starting to come back as we make changes,” Ferguson said. “I don’t really know what happened in the past, but we’re trying to add new programs to give people something else to do. We’re trying to diversify a little bit.”

Bivins has been a volunteer at the Temple Recreation Department for more than 20 years serving in various capacities that range from working concession stands to coaching to teaching classes on keeping scorebooks. Her recent election to the Temple City Council could help the department in its plans for future growth.

“When I first got here she helped me get to know everybody,” Ferguson said. “She helped with cheerleading last year as the cheerleading coordinator and when I got here she already had the uniforms ordered. She’s always willing to do anything you ask of her.”

If she says she’s going to do something, consider it done because she’ll find a way to do it whether it’s 7 o’clock in the morning or 10 o’clock at night.”