Parks and Pride: A Parks and Rec Love Story

And when they're not out at Parks and Rec events, David and Addyson are often participating in summer camps at a local rec center or playing in one of the sports leagues offered by the department - most recently the sport of choice is baseball.

Now, it shouldn't be a surprise that their family is so involved with recreation to the extent they are - for both Phipps and Fletcher, being outdoors has always been about family and community since the beginning.

Growing up in the Terra Ceia region inside Beaufort County, North Carolina, Phelan played recreational sports religiously - starting with tee-ball before moving onto softball - and it was there where she discovered a desire to go into recreation.

"I had a lot of coaches and friends who were influential to me while playing sports," Fletcher said. "So I wanted to make an impact on other people, the way people had made an impact on me through recreation."

From the age of 16 - when she first started doing work for her local recreation department - Fletcher advanced further into the field by getting her degree in recreation and park management from East Carolina University. It was there in Greenville where something life changing would happen for her during her senior year.

A BUDDING RELATIONSHIP

Originally from the Cayman Islands, and a transplant from Canada, Phipps moved to North Carolina in 2009 for grad school while working as a graduate assistant at ECU. Like Fletcher, Phipps began her journey in intramural sports - albeit as a freshman during her time in college in Canada by working part-time as a volleyball referee and a recreation facilitator.

At the time Phipps started at ECU, Fletcher was working as a program assistant in the Intramural and Youth Sports Office at the university, and Phipps' presence as a graduate assistant got their relationship to a… difficult spot.

"I was kind of irritated at first because I was hoping to get a grad assistantship the next year, so then she came in and messed up my timing - so I was a little resentful at first," Fletcher said.

"She didn't like me before she met me," Phipps said with a laugh.

"But then we worked closely together and I trained her and taught her all of the stuff," Fletcher said. "Intramural sports, all of the staff - we're all in college, so it's a group of friends - would hang out at work and after work, and we just became friends."

For the non-native Phipps, the community that accepted her in meant a lot - especially when it came to Fletcher. What first started as a bit of tension, led to something neither could have foreseen, as what started as friendship blossomed into something more.

For about five to six months Phipps and Fletcher dated in secret - neither had come out, and the relationship was the first lesbian relationship they had ever been in.

"We were both each other's 'A-ha!' moment," Phipps said.

Eventually the pair came out as a couple to their friends and family, and from there they were off.

After finishing grad school the couple were long distance for several months when Phipps took a job at the University of Akron, before Fletcher followed suit - moving in and taking a job down the road at Kent State University as an intramural sports coordinator (the same title that Phipps held at her job).

Over the next few years life was busy for the two, as work and life progressed forward as it always does.

In June of 2015, when the United States Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act - leading to the legalization of gay marriage - the couple, who had been engaged and planning for a wedding, rejoiced. It was a moment that, for them, meant security.

"I was excited, because I was like, 'Oh man, we can actually get our wedding certificate, and sign a piece of paper and have this solidified in the eyes of the court,'" Phipps said. "It will be security for parental rights and some of the things that came with it."

Kids would eventually come for the couple, albeit through a funny conversation where Phipps brought up wanting a dog, to which Fletcher simply responded, "I would rather have a kid than a dog." That solved that conundrum, and Phipps would go on to carry David, while Fletcher carried Addyson.

BACK TO NC

Phipps was actually pregnant with David when she interviewed for a job at UNCG's Leonard J. Kaplan Center for Wellness in 2018, which led the pair back to North Carolina following their stay in Ohio. She'd work at the university until moving into her current role with the City in 2022.

"The position I'm in, it's the first one for the City," Phipps said. "That was exciting for me to build it as I went - to not have a roadmap - and it was also a bit nerve-racking for the same reason."

During that time in 2018, Phelan herself started as a roster employee with the City working with ballfields, before a full-time job of assistant manager at Barber Park opened up. She'd follow that up working as the assistant manager at Country Park, and then a promotion to manager at Hester Park in November 2024.

Both Phipps' and Phelan's role have overlaps in some ways, with Phipps overseeing programming of all kinds - including big events like the Greenway Run and Block Party - on the Downtown Greenway, while Fletcher supervises the staff at the park and maintains day-to-day operations.

It may be busy work, but for Greensboro's Parks and Rec duo, the pros far outweigh the cons.

"You never know what's going to happen in a day in the park - you might have an idea of what you're going to come in and do that day, but then you come in and see a beaver has chewed through half of a tree that you now have to cut down," Fletcher said with a laugh.

"Is that the fun part? Or the challenge?" asked Phipps.

"Actually, it kind of is a both thing, but because of that you don't know what you'll get," Fletcher responded. "It's always interesting."