Catherine starts year with new super

The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen LAKE CATHERINE: Longtime Arkansas State Parks employee Cheryl Vincent was promoted from assistant superintendent to superintendent of Lake Catherine State Park at the beginning of the year.
The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen LAKE CATHERINE: Longtime Arkansas State Parks employee Cheryl Vincent was promoted from assistant superintendent to superintendent of Lake Catherine State Park at the beginning of the year.

For the first time in a decade, Lake Catherine State Park started the year with a new superintendent, longtime Arkansas State Parks employee Cheryl Vincent.

Late last year, Superintendent Richard W. Boyes II retired from Lake Catherine State Park after 10 years as superintendent, 35 years with the park and almost 38 years with Arkansas State Parks. Vincent said she is trying to continue Boyes' legacy and to promote the park in both Hot Springs and Malvern.

Vincent called her promotion an incredible opportunity and said she is very thankful to be given the position.

Originally from Eudora, Kan., Vincent said she developed a love of the outdoors at a young age when her family would often go camping and hiking. One of her favorite places that the family would visit was Buffalo National River in northern Arkansas. While calling Kansas "amazing in its own right," Vincent said she wanted to work in Arkansas after those family trips to float the Buffalo.

"Ever since I was little, I wanted to be a park ranger," Vincent said. Following that dream, Vincent went to Kansas State University where she earned a degree in Park Resource Management. This led to an internship with Arkansas State Parks at Jacksonport State Park in Newport.

Between Jacksonport and Lake Catherine, Vincent worked at several other parks including Petit Jean State Park, Mount Magazine State Park and Bull Shoal-White River State Park. This isn't her first time serving as a park superintendent; she was also superintendent of Lake Poinsett State Park.

After five years of moving between those parks, Vincent arrived at Lake Catherine, where she served 10 years as assistant superintendent. Vincent is also the superintendent of Jenkins Ferry Battleground State Park in Grant County.

Vincent said that ever since she moved to Arkansas, she had her eyes on Lake Catherine. Things that appealed to her about the park include its history, proximity to both Hot Springs and Little Rock, schools and community.

Over the past three months, Vincent has started getting used to her new position. She said it still hasn't really set in yet that it feels like her predecessor is just on leave. One of the more difficult parts of the transition, Vincent said, is for her to balance her duties in the park.

As superintendent, Vincent wears many hats, and although she is the park's chief administrator, if someone calls in sick, she covers for them, even if that means answering phones or running the cash registers. She is also an instructor with Arkansas State Parks.

One of the perks of being superintendent is that she is provided a house on the property, she said, noting the state sees this not as a benefit for her, personally, but for the visitors to the park. She said if a camper needs her at midnight, they can knock on her door and have help immediately.

Sharing the house with her are her husband, B.J., and their two sons, Ben and Blake. Living in the park, Vincent said, has its positives and negatives when raising a family. On the one hand, the kids have a beautiful park to play in, but they don't have any neighbors.

Vincent said she has no intentions of leaving Lake Catherine anytime soon and plans to remain at least until both of her children have graduated from high school.

As for the future, Vincent said she has many ideas for the park. Things she is overseeing now include a new marina that is being planned for the fall and a mountain bike trail that she said should be built within the next two years. She said they need to also start looking at getting a new visitors center in the next five to 10 years.

Vincent said she wanted to thank her staff and supporters, noting they have been "amazing" and made the transition "so smooth."

Local on 03/21/2019

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