The Jefferson Parks and Recreation Department has found its new assistant director, who comes with a quality wrestling background and top notch degrees.

Henry Pohlmeyer is an Iowa native, growing up in Urbandale and is a 2015 Johnston High School graduate. When his passion for wrestling started at four years old, Pohlmeyer says he was a two-time state finalist and earned a scholarship to wrestle at South Dakota State University. His wrestling accolades kept climbing in college as a three-time national qualifier, an Academic Scholarship All American and Big 12 Conference Finalist. 

Having entered SDSU as a pre-pharmacy student, Pohlmeyer tells Raccoon Valley Radio he switched to a political science-pre law degree for a lighter coarse load that did not involve averaging 20 credits per semester, where he earned all A’s and B’s, while also getting his stint as a starter on the wrestling team. He talks about why he made the switch in career paths and that he was happy with his decision.

“There’s silver linings in everything. I’ve always wanted a position in local government. I don’t want to be a politician to a certain degree but local government has always interested me. My first job was public works. So our neighbor (in Johnston) was the public works director and that kind of sparked an interest in that world. I was thinking about law school but the price tag on that was not very appealing and considering I just wanted to get to the workforce.”   

Pohlmeyer describes the reason why he applied for the assistant parks and rec director position is because he was always involved in a parks and rec programming growing up in the Des Moines metro area, which made a positive impression on his life.

“I’ve always liked it, I’ve always had a good time, and I think it’s something that gives back to the community. Wherever I’m at, doesn’t matter if it’s in Des Moines, Brookings, South Dakota; Johnston, Madison, Wisconsin I always want to give back to the community that’s helping me out with where I’m going and I think the best way for me to do that is be involved in not only local government, but a parks and recreation kind of programming position.”       

Pohlmeyer is also studying at Drake University for a master’s degree in business administration. He is excited to be part of the community and looking forward to meeting as many new people as he can. Pohlmeyer will be mainly responsible for programming and he started on October 1st. To hear more from Pohlmeyer, listen to today’s Jefferson A & W Family Restaurant Let’s Talk Greene County program.