WS Chronicle

Art Blevins dedicated much of his adult life to helping kids on and off the court in the various recreation centers where he worked.  To commemorate his tremendous work over the years, the gymnasium at the Hanes Hosiery Community Center, 501 Reynolds Blvd., Winston-Salem, will be renamed for Blevins today, Thursday, April 19, at 6 p.m. 

Always the humble man, Blevins says having the court renamed in his honor is “another blessing from God.”  He says he is a lucky man to have the gym named after him.

“I never thought when I first started out some 38 years ago that the good Lord would have blessed me with something like this,” Blevins said. 

“I hope that a lot of ‘my kids over the years will be there because it is ‘my kids’ and the good Lord that made me who I am,” he continued.

He says when he received the notice about having the gym renamed for him all he could say was “thank you Lord for everything.”  He said he knew it was a possibility of the gym being renamed when Council Member Denise “DD” Adams mentioned it during his retirement celebration, but he was unaware it would happen so soon.

Blevins said when he looks back upon his time at the Recreation and Parks Department, he would do it all again if he could.  He said his time at the department did not feel like a job because he loved doing it so much. All he wanted was to retire in “good health, good name and good standing.”

Blevins wanted to give a special thanks to a few people such as Adams, William Royston, Gary Lash and Leah Friend for putting the renaming effort together. 

He also said thanks to his wife, Ruth Anne; his daughter Kayla; his mother Ann Ferris; his mother in-law Mary Anne Gooley; Allean Sims; Claudette and Joel Weston; Nick Jamison; Tim Grant; Denise Scott Johnson; Ron Beverly; Julie Griffin; Jon Hoban; Ron Wellman and Timothy Ramsey and The Chronicle.

He says he knows it will be an emotional night on April 19 because of all the memories that will come rushing back to him. 

“Like I always say, with God all things are possible and I am truly thankful and blessed to have done something for 38 years that I loved,” he said.

The Winston-Salem Recreation and Parks Department announced the renaming event on Monday.

City officials and Blevins will offer remarks, the Mo Lucas Foundation Drummers will perform and an “Art Blevins Gymnasium” mural will be unveiled.

Blevins retired May 31, 2017, the announcement said. Over the course of his 38-year-career with the Recreation and Parks Department, Blevins served three generations of Winston-Salem residents and received 18 awards and honors from state and local organizations, including the Winston-Salem Chronicle Carl Russell Lifetime Achievement Award and the city of Winston-Salem Employee of the Year award.

Blevins spent the last 25 years of his career as director of the Hanes Hosiery Community Center, where he was widely praised for his work with city youth.  As director, he started winter and summer youth basketball leagues, and organized the Hang the Net basketball shooting competition and a slam-dunk competition for standout college and high school players in the area.