This is Kosta and today I’m here with my guest: Chad McDonald, Assistant Director of Cookeville Department of Leisure Services and Public Facilities. Soon to be Department Director beginning October 6, 2025.

In this episode: Leisure Services is the heart of Cookeville. Your department oversees ten city parks, Cookeville Performing Acts Center, two museums, our farmers market, and countless other recreation and events centers. In your opinion, what role does Leisure Services play in shaping Cookeville’s identity and quality of life? You’ve served the City of Cookeville and Leisure Services in various roles for over thirty years. In 1992 you started a part time job in the Cookeville Drama Center (now the Cookeville Performing Arts Center) while attending TTU. Now, thirty-three years later you’re designated to be the next Director of the Cookeville Department of Leisure Services and Public Facilities. What’s one thing about this department that hasn’t changed? Across the City of Cookeville Offices there’s a clear effort to provide transparency and a more community focused approach to outreach and engagement. How is Leisure Services helping to provide more robust updates and involvement to residents, specifically through digital media and online platforms?

Find out more about Cookeville Department of Leisure Services and Public Facilities: 

https://www.cookeville-tn.gov/284/Leisure-Services

Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev is a product of Morgan Franklin Media and recorded in Cookeville, TN.

Join us with Plenty Downtown Bookshop at A Novel Affair: A Jane Austen Gala for Literacy on November 8, 2025 at Putnam County Convention Center. 

Find out more about A Novel Affair: A Jane Austen Gala for Literacy and buy tickets here:
https://plentybookshop.com/gala