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Saying goodbye to a ‘dream job’

Doug Goodmund is retiring from Marshall Community Services after a roughly 40-year career

Photo by Deb Gau Doug Goodmund, assistant to the director of Community Services in Marshall, reflected on his career with the city this week.

MARSHALL — Doug Goodmund said he hasn’t had a typical office job. There have been many, many athletic events, summer programs, and Independence Day celebrations to help out with. As assistant to the director of Marshall Community Services, Goodmund has spent just shy of 40 years being involved with sports and other activities, and getting to know people in the community.

“It was a dream job for me,” Goodmund said.

Goodmund will be retiring at the end of next week. An open house was held for him Friday evening at the Marshall-Lyon County Library.

On Friday, Goodmund talked about some of his experiences working with Marshall Community Services. He started his career in April 1978, although he didn’t take a direct path to get there. Goodmund was a 1973 Russell High School graduate, and when he attended college at what is now Southwest Minnesota State University, he said, “I kind of wanted to be an English teacher.”

After taking some of the coursework, however, Goodmund said he decided teaching English wasn’t for him.

“I was a sports enthusiast in high school. My favorite class was P.E.,” he said. Those interests led him to officiating local sports games, and to meeting Bob Bierscheid, his first supervisor with Marshall’s parks, recreation and community education department. The two met when Goodmund was signing up to referee a men’s basketball tournament. He and Bierscheid got to talking, “And we kind of formed a quick bond there,” Goodmund said.

Bierscheid later offered Goodmund a job working with Marshall’s summer recreation programs.

“The rest is pretty much history,” Goodmund said.

A lot has changed in his job over the years, Goodmund said. The technology has changed — when he first started working, he said, “Bob and I had one phone between us, and we’d take turns answering it.” Fliers for recreation programs had to be typeset and mimeographed.

But the scope of Marshall Community Services has also changed over the years. Starting in the 1960s, local governments and schools started expanding the idea of community education, Goodmund said. Over time, competitive youth sports also became more popular, and community sports associations were formed.

The expanding number of parks, sports facilities, recreation and community education programs available in Marshall were made possible through partnerships, Goodmund said. The main partnerships were between the city of Marshall, local schools, and Community Services, but MCS has also worked with community groups and businesses.

“We couldn’t have done it without local business,” he said. “Because everyone chipped in, good things started to happen.”

Variety has been one of the fun things about Goodmund’s job. Another one of the positives has been working with people in the community, he said.

“I’ve met so many wonderful people,” Goodmund said.

Goodmund met at least a few of the important people in his life on the softball field — including Harry Weilage, who would be his supervisor as Community Services Director for many years.

“When I first met Harry, I was officiating” at a softball game in Morton, Goodmund said. Weilage was one of the players.

“We became good friends,” Goodmund said. “He was what I wold call a visionary person . . . I’ve always been kind of the behind-the-scenes guy.”

Goodmund didn’t just meet his longtime boss through community softball, however. In 1980, he first met his wife, Robbie, at a league softball game.

Goodmund said Robbie and his family have been very important to him through the years. When he retires, it will be an opportunity to spend more time with them, he said. While he plans to relax “a bit,” Goodmund said he also plans to keep working for the Minnesota State High School League, and maybe finding other things to do.

Goodmund said he’s felt “blessed” to have had the experiences he has over his career. “There’s been some wonderful people I’ve gotten to know.”

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