Searcy Parks office manager celebrates 40 years
Searcy Parks office manager celebrates 40 years
For Barbara Hubach, the Searcy Parks and Recreation Department holds a special place in her heart. Hubach, who recently celebrated her 40th anniversary with the department, met her husband, Freddie, there early in her career at the department. She is currently its office manager.
“One day in the office, Harry Miller said, ‘See that guy out there?’ and I said, ‘Yeah,’” Hubach said, referring to a conversation with former Searcy Parks Director Harry Miller. “Harry said, ‘He (Freddie) is a super nice guy, and if he ever asks you out, you should go.’”
Hubach said Freddie Hubach asked her out. They dated for 10 months and got married on Sept. 27, 1980.
“The very sad part about that was my dad had passed away six months prior to that,” Barbara Hubach said. “He did know my husband, which is something I’m very thankful for. Then Harry, the one who introduced us, was killed by a drunk driver two days before we were to be married. He died Sept. 25, 1980.
“There was no way I could go to the funeral, with the wedding being the same day, but it was very bitter sweet.”
Hubach is a 1978 graduate of Searcy High School. She attended kindergarten through sixth grade in Michigan before moving to Batesville, where she attended seventh and eighth grades. She moved to Searcy before the ninth grade. After graduation, she looked for a job.
“I had thought about going to college in Cleveland, Tennessee, but I didn’t,” she said. “My dad had gotten sick. He ended up passing away. I wanted to stay here near my mom. I got a job here at the Carmichael Center. I started May 5, 1979.”
Hubach said working with Searcy Parks has been good for her.
“I’ve had good employers and good co-workers,” she said. “To me, it’s just a happy place, in most cases. There are a lot of children and young people, with activities going on. It’s just a happy-type environment.”
Hubach started with the department five months after the Carmichael Center opened.
“Harry Miller hired me,” she said. “There was myself, Harry and Trevor Smith, who was the assistant director. We had three or four people who worked there in the evening. A lot of people are still around who were working here at the time.”
“I’ve seen a lot of changes throughout the years . ... I watched the sports complex come to life. We’ve got so much going on.”
Barbara Hubach OFFICE MANAGER FOR THE SEARCY PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT
When she started, Hubach was the general secretary for the department. She answered phones and made out schedules for ballgames.
“Harry would figure out what was going on, and I would send in the reports to the newspaper back then,” she said. “That was news back then on the adult leagues.”
Hubach also said the Parks Department has grown over the years.
“As the Parks and Recreation Department grew, we had to take on more and more responsibility,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of changes throughout the years. When I started, the ballparks were still over at Berryhill Park. I watched the sports complex come to life. We’ve got so much going on.”
As the office manager, Hubach takes care of the deposits.
“We do a little bit of everything,” she said. “I did all the reservations. In the past couple of years, I’ve had a co-worker doing that as well. It became a full-time job in itself. People are always calling to make reservations for a room here.”
Another aspect of the job that Hubach enjoyed was booking concerts for the amphitheater that was located behind the Carmichael Center.
“We booked shows — country, bluegrass,” she said. “I was interested in Southern gospel. That was my first love, you could say. We booked a lot of big-time professional singers and groups. We did that up until the late 1990s. It was a lot of fun. We would book them, promote them and see them come and all the people come out and enjoy [the show]. It made me so happy and thrilled.”
Additionally, Hubach runs several craft fairs at the Carmichael Center.
“I’ve been in charge of the craft fairs throughout the years,” she said. “We have two now. We started with one, the Holiday Craft Fair in December. The Newcomers’ League stopped doing its craft fairs in November, so we took them over.
“It’s a lot of work and activities, but it’s very rewarding to see all the people here these days, and our building is full of shoppers and all the excitement. I love the excitement.”
Searcy Parks Director Mike Parsons said Hubach is vital to the success of his department.
“She was already working here when I came on board 15 years ago,” he said. “Barbara is what I would call the glue for the Searcy Parks and Recreation Department. She handles a little bit of everything, from reservations to customer complaints to helping with events and the planning of events. Pretty much anything we throw at her, Barbara can handle it.”
Parsons, who has been parks director for 3 1/2 years, said Hubach makes his job easier.
“I forget things all the time with things going on,” Parsons said. “She keeps me on my toes and reminds me of the things I forget, or when I need help, she’s there to help me.”
The Hubachs are coming up on their 39th wedding anniversary.
“I tried to impress all my friends from back in the day,” Barbara Hubach said. “I’d say he is Mr. Judsonia 1971.”
She said the key to the their long marriage is that they are both Christians.
“We’ve always attended church regularly,” Hubach said. “He played basketball and tennis and is very sportsminded. I play the piano and sing, but Freddie also started singing with me as well. We’ve sung in musical groups on the weekends and go to churches.
“We just love being together. We love traveling. We look forward to our yearly vacation. We’ve always been pretty active in our church — First Assembly of God.”
The Hubachs have two children, son Nicholas and daughter Natalie, and two granddaughters, Piper Hubach and Victoria Shackelford.
After working 40 years at the Searcy Parks Department, Hubach said, she knows she is where God wanted her to be.
“I’ve enjoyed it so much, especially in the beginning,” she said. “I was much younger, and it was easier to get up and go to work every day. If I had ever done anything else, it would have been traveling full time singing Southern gospel music, but we needed to be here with our families. It just wasn’t meant to be.”