People of Rotary | Maggie Stuckey-Ross
Maggie Stuckey Ross in Love with Lincoln's Parks as published in the Lincoln Journal Star on September 23, 2019
By Randy Bretz
There were cars from Colorado, Illinois and Utah in the parking lot the morning we met to talk about Lincoln’s parks and the foundation she heads. I’d suggested that Maggie Stuckey-Ross meet me at Sunken Gardens for an interview. She readily agreed. After all, she’s the Executive Director of the Lincoln Parks Foundation. What could be more appropriate than meeting in one of Lincoln’s stellar surroundings?
“I just love what I do,” noted Stuckey-Ross. “What could be better than sitting on a bench at Sunken Garden, talking to people about our parks?” As we talked, her story unfolded, suggesting that everything in Maggie’s life had prepared her to make a positive impact on Lincoln.
Born and raised in Lincoln, Stuckey-Ross has quite an interesting history with Lincoln’s parks. As a child her parents, Scott and Nancy Stuckey pushed her in a Lincoln Parks swing. They watched her play on a merry-go-round. When she was a student at Southeast High School and a participant in the Youth Leadership Lincoln program, “I was in YLL #3” she proudly proclaims, Stuckey took a suggestion from Principal Brent Toalson and helped make it happen. That suggestion was to revitalize the playground at Antelope Park. Stuckey and the Student Council raised $25,000 to help turn the Antelope Park playground into the largest and most accessible play area in the region. Stuckey was there for the dedication in September of 2000.
After a couple of years at Boston University, Stuckey-Ross returned to complete her degree in Political Science at UNL, then it was off to Washington to work with Senator Chuck Hagel. She returned to Lincoln to work with the Arbor Day Foundation and the University of Nebraska Foundation. “When I came back to Lincoln, one of the ways I reconnected with the city was to participate in the Leadership Lincoln Fellows Class,” she noted. “I’m a two-time Leadership Lincoln participant and I’m going for my third time.” Stuckey-Ross plans to participate in the organization’s Executive Cohort in the near future.
So, seventeen years after she’d helped raise money for the playground at Antelope Park, Stuckey became the Executive Director of the Lincoln Parks Foundation. She’s helping raise money and other assorted tasks to establish the Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch. This new park will be a tallgrass prairie passage connecting Pioneers Park, the Conestoga Lake Recreation Area and the Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center.
And, if that weren’t enough, she’s involved in helping fund the newest urban park in the South Haymarket and she’s beginning to raise funds and seeking public input for revitalizing Lincoln’s Bicentennial Cascade Fountain (also known as the Retired Teachers Fountain) across the street from Sunken Garden. And the list could go on.
Even as she is focused on the Prairie Corridor, the South Haymarket park and Cascade Fountain, Stuckey has uncovered some little known points of interest about our parks. “Did you know there’s a place where playground equipment goes to die?” she asked. “Yep, when we replace well worn equipment it’s taken to this little known spot. “Did you know that we’re 60 years into a 100 year bequest that will one day help fund a brand new park for Lincoln?” she went on to note. “Ever hear of Epworth Park?” she quipped. “That’s quite a story and the grand entrance still stands in what we now call Wilderness Park,” she added. As we concluded the interview, I suggested we hop in a car and visit the Epworth Park entrance. If you type in “Epworth Park” on Google maps, you won’t find it. But, if you ask Maggie Stuckey-Ross, there’s a good chance she’ll take you there. And, as you head that way, you’ll hear stories from someone who’s making Lincoln better, Maggie Stuckey, Executive Director of the Lincoln Parks Foundation.
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