BUCKSPORT — Nick Tymoczko has been named recreation operations director for the town of Bucksport.
As such, Tymoczko will oversee program development, fundraising and budget matters, as well as supervise the summer day camp, after-school programs and pool staff.
Earlier this month, the Bucksport Town Council approved of a two-year contract with the Down East Family YMCA, which will now provide recreational services to the town in the form of pool safety and staffing, summer day camp and after-school programs and an array of other recreation programs.
The Down East YMCA, which made the appointment, announced Tymoczko’s hiring Monday.
The contract allows the town to keep providing recreational opportunities in the absence of its current recreation director, Tim Emery, who plans to retire after a 40-year career.
“I am excited for the opportunity to carry back to Bucksport the experience I have gained over my career and to take on the responsibility that my mentors respected me with,” said Tymoczko, a Bucksport native. “It is an opportunity to truly give back.”
Tymoczko graduated from Bucksport High School in 2005, where he was a member of the 2004 boys high school state championship track team and the 2004 state championship football team, winning the Fitzpatrick Award as the top senior football player in Maine.
Tymoczko said his experiences growing up in Bucksport are what most qualify him for his new role.
“Observing the YMCA core values demonstrated by a caring community certainly shaped me and drove me to become the person I am today,” he said.
Tymoczko attended Springfield College, graduating in 2009 with a degree in motion science and a minor in health. After college, he accepted a position as physical education and health teacher at North Reading Middle School in North Reading, Mass.
In addition to his teaching role, Tymoczko coached the freshman and junior varsity football teams and served as the varsity assistant coach. He also worked as program director of the North Reading Massachusetts Recreation Department Summer Day Camp Program, which served nearly 100 children per day.
Tymoczko also taught K-8 physical education in Fairlee, Vt., where he coached the middle school co-ed soccer team and taught snowboarding to Special Olympians.
During the summer of 2012, Tymoczko served as program coordinator at Camp Beech Cliff on Mount Desert Island, where he managed staff and was in charge of eight program areas.
Most recently, as the program director for the Mount Desert Island YMCA in Bar Harbor, he instituted popular, new programs for both youth and adults and hosted numerous special events and activities. In addition, he coached youth recreational basketball and soccer.
Tymoczko is a certified Wilderness First Responder, and he has worked as a wilderness therapy mentor/guide for behaviorally challenged adolescents and young adults. His interests include winter backpacking, snowboarding, rock climbing, whitewater canoe racing and fishing.
When asked about returning to Bucksport, Tymoczko responded, “I am thrilled to work with people I still know as ‘Coach’ and to build on the wonderful volunteer spirit that is already in place within the Bucksport community. I am excited by the opportunity to return to the small town which I consider extended family to me.”