Teresa Landrum can't help but smile as she waves to each person entering the St. Tammany Parish Recreation District No. 2 gym in Bush on a sunny Thursday morning.
The gym will soon be filled with more than a dozen women for a yoga class.
"It started a couple of months ago, and I was so elated when it did," participant Luz Buitrago said. "I live close, and I don't have a gym close to the house. My doctor tells me all the time to be more active, and now I can do that. It really makes you feel better."
Fellow yogi Karen Alford agreed: "It's so convenient. If we had to go to Covington or somewhere else to do this, we probably wouldn't be doing it. I tried to do it via video, but there's something to be said for going someplace, and there are other people who made you want to go. It means a lot to have a group. It's motivating."
Those positive reviews are music to Landrum's ears.
Later that day, more than 130 kids from ages 4-15 descended on the baseball and softball fields near the gym for practice. These are just two examples of the programs the recreation district offers.
Just over the fence of one of the baseball fields is what will soon be La. 3241, a new highway which will connect Lacombe and Bogalusa and cut right through the heart of the small Bush community. Population growth in the area is inevitable.
"We're going to have more kids, and we're going to need more money," Landrum said.
The district was established in 1963 and was funded at one time. Landrum, who serves as the secretary on the district's board, hopes to have a steady source of funding once again.
"It's expensive to put something on the ballot, but we finally did it for this election," Landrum said. "We've said from the beginning that we needed funding. They tried to put it on the ballot many years ago, and it got voted down. We need funding because we've been paying bills with our small rec fees, donations and out-of-pocket expenses."
This time, the proposition is for a 10-year, 4-mill property tax in the district, which is expected to raise $100,000 annually. That money would be used to improve and maintain Bush's recreation facilities.
The official use is described as "acquiring, constructing, improving, maintaining or operating parks, playgrounds, recreation centers and other recreational facilities in said District, together with the necessary furnishings and equipment therefor."
Landrum breaks it down some.
"Our gym roof has some leaks in it, and our floors need to be redone, but we can't do that until our roof's not leaking," she said. "This millage would allow us to do things that need to be done to improve and maintain our facilities. We don't let anything go to waste, but we need funding to maintain and improve what we have."
Bush's Recreation District 2 is miniscule compared to some others in the parish.
Funding items for the two largest districts, in the Mandeville and Madisonville areas, also are on the April 27 ballot. Recreation District 1, which is centered at Pelican Park just east of Mandeville, is asking for a renewal of the 6.05 mills that generate approximately $4.68 million annually for the district.
Pelican Park is almost 500 acres and consists of 32 athletic fields, a 3-court gym and a 4-court gym, along with the Castine Center, a 46,000-square-foot multipurpose convention center.
The other is a $7.635 million bond issue to finance operations at District 14, or the “Coquille Parks and Recreation District” serving the Madisonville area.
Coquille has more than 4,000 youth and 500 adult participants in its programs. Its facilities include 12 diamond fields, five rectangular fields, four gymnasiums, eight tennis courts, two playgrounds, a special event field, a splash pad, a walking trail that measures 1/3 mile and an outdoor area that hosts games including bocce ball, shuffleboard and horseshoes.
The Bush Recreation district, which is about 18 acres, is run by volunteers and its board members, and everything is done by volunteer efforts from running the concession stand to cutting the grass.
"We're some cutting grass fools," said Landrum with a laugh. "It feels like all we do is cut grass, make food and pay bills. This is where we live. During ball season, I'm here at least 30 hours a week."
But Landrum wouldn't have it any other way. Her husband, C. Dave Landrum, is the board's president. He retired from the St. Tammany Sheriff's Department not long after Teresa retired from Mandeville Junior High.
"My kids were grown, and I saw a need," Landrum said. "We came to a board meeting to see what was happening. And here we are four-plus years later. It is a labor of love. We love it."
With the new highway literally looking onto the fields, Landrum hopes that a new funding source will help the recreation district grow, as residents in other parts of St. Tammany have seen over the years.