Article published: July 31, 2009
The man behind Patriot Park's success

By GINA VASSELLI
Item Staff Writer
gvasselli@theitem.com

A day after the opening ceremony, there is still a flurry of activity at Patriot Park.

The smell of paint and fresh dirt is in the air, and the clang of metal hitting metal punctuates the air.

And in the middle of all the activity conducting the controlled chaos is Steve Hostetler.

Hostetler is the supervisor of maintenance for the county recreation and parks department. He and his crew are responsible for the upkeep of all the county facilities.

But Hostetler has involved in more than the maintenance of Patriot Park. He's been there working on it before there was anything to maintain.

Gary Mixon, the deputy county administrator, said Hostetler was out there when the county first bought the land for the fields.

"He was crawling on his belly out there in the woods laying out surveying lines," Mixon said. "From the time that the first tree was laid down, Steve's been there."

And Mixon said Hostetler acted as the relay man between the different contractors working on the new fields. He said he was probably on speed dial for all the contractors' phones.

"He's been the go-to man," Mixon said. "Everybody knows Steve out there."

Hostetler started out with the recreation department around 1986 as a part-time employee and hasn't left since.

Phil Parnell, the co-director of recreation and parks, said he has worked side-by-side with Hostetler for almost 16 years.

"He is the backbone behind the Sumter county recreation department," Parnell said. "We're able to do what we do because of Steve."

Rose Ford, the recreation and parks director, said the department is "blessed" to have Hostetler.

She said he has worked tirelessly on his job, even when he was sick.

"When he's not even feeling well, I say 'Steve, go home,' but he won't. He wanted to see it finished," Ford said. "It's been his baby."

Mixon said even though the new sportsplex meant more work for him, Hostetler was excited about it.

"He knew that we were getting one step closer to the park we had all been dreaming about," he said. "He welcomed the extra work actually."

And though there has been a lot of activity at the park for the last 6-9 months, Mixon said, "years before then, Steve was out there working the site."

"He is definitely the man behind the scenes," he said.