Parks and Rec Director Michael Hinojosa Proving You Can Still Be a Kid at Heart

By Melissa Moore-Randall

If you are looking for a fun activity to keep your kids busy during these tough Covid times, look no further than the City of Revere Parks and Recreation Department. The Revere Parks and Recreation offers residents (both children and adults) of Revere with recreational programs, activities, and special events all year. There are many people behind the scenes who work to come up with creative and engaging activities for children and adults including Director and Revere lifelong resident Michael Hinojosa.

Michael was born and raised in Revere. He spent a few years living in Maryland, when his father was a professional thoroughbred jockey.  His Dad’s career as a jockey was a successful one including being the 31st jockey to record 3,000 wins in 1981.  A highlight of his Dad’s career for Michael was watching him participate in the Preakness.  Hinojosa, a 1988 graduate of Revere High School, was a standout athlete excelling in baseball, football, golf, and track.  He went on to continue his education and baseball career at Bentley College and Suffolk University.

Hinojosa returned to Revere and married his wife Marie-Elena. Michael and Marie-Elena raised two children, Chris and Ally, through the Revere Public System.  Both of his children were standout varsity athletes at Revere High School. Ally played basketball, softball and volleyball, and Chris was a basketball and baseball player.

As the Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, Hinojosa has many responsibilities. “I would like to sum it up in one sentence: my main job and the mission of the department is to provide leisure and recreational opportunities for everyone from toddlers to senior citizens. My day-to-day responsibilities include budgeting, facility rentals at school gyms and our outdoor athletic facilities, creating programming and working closely with the Mayor’s office for any capital improvement projects related to parks, playgrounds, athletic facilities and open space.”

Hinojosa said the City offers a plethora of activities and programs. “A few of our most popular include Drop-in-play, cooking classes, basketball, run club, sports camps, Sunday night concerts, movies on the beach, summer camp, Friday field trips, character story time at parks, character breakfast during school vacation and special events surrounding the holidays such as Trunk or Treat, the tree lighting at City Hall, and Fourth of July festivities. There are so many more I’d like to mention.” His favorite programs that the Department offers are the Movie Nights and Cooking classes. “I really enjoy spending summer nights at the beach watching movies, and enjoy watching the little ones cook and enjoy their creations.”

When asked about the Department’s future plans, Hinojosa stated, “As part of our seven year open space plan, we are looking to add/upgrade Gibson Park (Point of Pines) and Frederick’s Park (Beachmont) to artificial turf facilities with a multi-use design in mind. And the most exciting news of all – we will be opening a 25,000 square foot health and wellness center at 321 Charger Street, hoping to be operational by July 1st.”

Hinojosa credits his staff and city officials for the success of the Department. “ I would like to say we couldn’t be as successful as we are without my dedicated staff working tirelessly to provide the aforementioned recreational opportunities. Secondly, the support and direction from Mayor Brian Arrigo and the City Council has led us to these potential upgrades.”

For more information about the many offerings and their seasonal lineup visit their website at  www.revererec.org or follow them on Instagram: @RevereRecreation or Twitter @RevereRec.