News
Auburndale official touched by unveiling
Published: Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Cindy Hummel Tennis Court
When city commissioners unveiled the name for Auburndale's new tennis center downtown on Wiley Drive on Monday, the city's special projects director got a little emotional.
That's because, to her surprise, the Cindy Hummel Tennis Center is named for her.
Hummel, who has worked for the city since the 1970s, tearfully accepted a plaque from Mayor Bill Sterling at the end of Auburndale Commission Day activities on Monday afternoon, in front of the new tennis center sign. Workers put the sign lettering in place Monday morning while city employees, including Hummel, toured city facilities built in the past year.
"There are no words," Hummel said. "It was a shock."
Sterling read a proclamation on the name in front of the tennis center facilities, the last stop on the Commission Day tour. Hummel's family also arrived to congratulate her.
Hummel began working for the city at the old tennis center's pro shop about 30 years ago. She was the first full-time employee of the Parks and Recreation Department, Sterling said. Hummel rose through the ranks to become recreation director in 1997. Last year, she was named special projects director.
Commissioners plan to make the new name official with a vote at a meeting on Aug. 17.
The new center has eight clay courts and city officials have discussed adding a building similar to one at the Beerman Tennis Center in Lakeland. Hummel visited the Beerman facility last month.
The hard courts at the current Auburndale Tennis Center on Park Street will stay in place for another two years, before they are destroyed to make room for a garden.
Tagged: tennis, Auburndale