A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Jenny Orsburn

OrsburnEverything came full circle for Jenny Orsburn when she took her position as the Superintendent of the Portage Parks and Recreation Department. Orsburn, who has a business degree and a background in biology, started her career at the age of 15 working for the Michigan City Parks and Recreation Department. After a stint working for the state of Indiana across the entire Region, a return to a community’s parks department seemed fitting.

“It feels like it’s meant to be,” Orsburn said. “I really wanted to spend all of my time and energy working on a community instead of spreading myself across the whole Region. When this opportunity came up in Portage, I was already familiar with the city and the Parks System.”

 

The Portage Parks and Recreation Department is currently working on installing a portable indoor turf system in the Oakwood Room at Woodland Park, which will allow the city to have an indoor soccer league.

According to Orsburn, approximately 1,000 children participate in the youth soccer leagues each year. The department plans to continue to oversee the growth of its biggest program through the indoor league and potentially adding a soccer academy.

Although the parks are more traditionally associated with the summer months, the winter months are equally as busy for Orsburn and her staff. The Parks and Recreation Department hosts wedding receptions, community events and indoor sporting activities when the weather is cold. In addition, sledding is popular at several of the Portage Parks and the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk is kept open year around to allow residents the opportunity to experience Lake Michigan in the middle of winter.

One of the city’s many top-notch facilities that Orsburn wants to spread the word about is its BMX track.

“We really want to promote residents getting out and enjoying the track; it’s there for them to use,” she said.

Orsburn’s duties as Superintendent include day-to-day operations of the parks, making decisions about which projects take priority, working with the public and working with other groups in the city in order to enhance the quality of the parks system.

Away from her job she is a mother of three, a certified Wildland Firefighter and a member of Parents as Teachers of Porter County.

“I like to be involved with education,” Orsburn said. “I love to be involved any way I can with promoting the protection and restoration of our natural resources, so I try to do that through my work with doing the Wildland Firefighter.”

Orsburn believes that the Portage Parks system is one of the best in the state.

“The residents should be proud of their parks system,” she said. “They have a phenomenal parks system.”

Orsburn has settled comfortably into her role in the city of Portage, which she called a place of opportunity.

“The people I work with all feel that energy,” she said. “I just truly love working here in Portage. It’s a great community of people that can see their future and see the things that are changing. This is the perfect spot to be, right here in Portage; I really and truly believe that.”