Michele Geremia believes the time is right. 

After leading the town’s recreation and senior services departments for the last 12 years, Geremia is retiring. 

“It was a pretty quick decision,” Geremia said. “At some point you just know. This year has been sort of my dream year. I feel complete. The goals I set for myself over the last 10 years have come to fruition.”

Geremia said the people she has hired to work at the town beach, with the camps, and at Peck Center are doing a great job. She also praised the contributions of recreation department assistant director Chris Vacarelo. 

“After 12 years of people coming and going, there’s a good team set up,” she said. “It was a good time to pass it on to somebody else.”

Geremia is handing the recreation department and senior services duties to Jean Bellm, who has been working as the executive assistant to Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey. 

“I worked with Jean the last couple of weeks to get her comfortable with some of the things I handle,” Geremia said. “She’ll bring a nice energy to the center.”

When Geremia first started working for the town, her position had a different title altogether. 

“It was called Leisure Services then. It was just 19 hours a week back then — full time in the summer and only three hours a day in the fall, winter and spring,” she said. 

When the former director of the senior center stepped down, Geremia approached the town leadership and asked if she could handle both departments. 

“I think I brought a lot of new programs to this town,” said Geremia, a Bristol resident. “I think that when we started out in 2012, there were three concerts in the summer. That was it. Now we do eight concerts and we have a partnership with Bank Newport… they have just been fantastic. I think we’ve done a lot of good there, because the townspeople really like the concerts.”

Geremia said her role as recreation department director has changed a bit over the years. She said the focus was initially on community events, but grew to include an emphasis on sports in town. Geremia said town officials would be wise to take a broader look at the responsibilities of the position. 

“I think there’s real value in stepping back and taking a look at the bigger picture and seeing how recreation director can just contribute more in the way of leagues and fields and sports,” she said. 

“It has changed. I think it could support it (a full time recreation director position) if the focus shifts a little. Handling both recreation and senior services, it kind of divides your planning ability and focus. I focus on one thing at a time and in the summer it’s mostly recreation. But then other parts of the year it’s mostly senior services. Still there’s that inability in a sense to delve deep and be a leader in making change and proposing changes.”

Geremia said she was encouraged with the recent efforts being made to improve the town’s athletic fields. She also touched on a need for more indoor recreation spaces in Barrington. 

“See, the other problem in Barrington is that you don’t have any indoor space. So every time we looked to add a program, a sports program, there’s no place to do it,” she said. “I have requests — What about an indoor basketball league in the winter? What about an indoor pickle ball league? Let’s do a tournament. Everything has to be jammed into the few weeks of the summer because you can’t possibly run them in the winter. The facilities are not there.”

Geremia said that challenge may fade in the future, once the school construction renovation project is completed. She referenced the plans to build new gymnasiums in the elementary schools. 

“That may help to lead the change. I think the demand will drive it, once the schools get those gyms. It’s probably going to happen eventually,” she said. 

What’s next?

Geremia began her retirement on Friday afternoon, July 12. She said she does not have any immediate plans to travel during retirement, but has family out of state and would like to see them more. Geremia said she may also continue to work part-time, if she finds the right fit.

“I’m still keeping my options open because I’m not just somebody who settles down easily,” she said. “I like to keep moving, stay active. I like to be challenged by things. I’m going to be looking around, seeing if there’s part-time opportunities for me somewhere. But it has to be something that I can really get excited about.”

Geremia said leaving her post in Barrington will be difficult. 

“I’ll miss the people. I’ll miss the people here. The people at town hall are fabulous,” Geremia said. “The people here in the Peck Center I work with are fabulous. Everybody just pulls together. We’ve done a lot of collaborations… There’s just a lot of collaborating going on and I’m very proud of that accomplishment, and I’ll miss the people. It’s been great working here.”

Geremia also wanted to thank the residents of Barrington. She typed up a short statement on her last day at work: “Thank you for giving me the honor of serving you. I have tried to do so with integrity and joy, every step of the way. Thank you for participating in the programs I have run. Thank you for the joy you have brought to the Peck Center. You are the ones who have made the Peck Center a success and a great place to be. I came into work every day knowing it would be a good day because of the support I received from each and everyone of you in the town. The past twelve years have been a delight and I wish you the very best as the town moves forward. I am leaving you with a full and grateful heart.”