David Wasilewski, Hanceville’s new director of Parks and Recreation.

HANCEVILLE — Hanceville has a new Park and Recreation director, and the city already has some pretty big plans to keep him busy in the year ahead.

Mayor Kenneth Nail and the Hanceville City Council introduced David Wasilewski as the city’s new parks director at its regular meeting Tuesday, welcoming Wasilewski, who comes to Hanceville following a 10-year stint at Cullman Parks and Recreation, to his first full week on the job.

“The thing I like about David is, he’s already worked in a hands-on way at Cullman,” said Nail. “He understands that we need that kind of experience and attitude to be in charge of our parks. It’s a hands-on job.”

The council discussed a new parks event planned for next summer that sounds about as hands-on as it gets: a bullfighting and bull riding exhibition and competition that’ll bring 25 riders to the city for a two-day event highlighted by a “running of the bulls” through the streets of downtown Hanceville.

“It’ll be something that’s totally new around here,” said Nail. “We will have a bull fighting competition, but it’s not violent. It’s not like the bull fighting that you’ve seen in Spain or in Mexico, where they finish by killing the bulls.

“Nothing like that will be involved here,” he added. “The goal in these bull fights is to get the bull to charge, and then to jump over it. It’s a pretty entertaining thing to watch, and I think it’s kind of a new and different event that’ll draw a lot of interest and bring people out to watch. We’re aiming for this to be a family-friendly activity; something that could really get the kids involved. “

The weekend event is set for Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11 of next year, with the competitive bull riding and bullfighting taking place on Saturday at the practice fields at C.W. Day Park.

Friday’s festivities will include the running of the bulls, which will feature professional cowboys and rodeo clowns in a closed-course race through the city’s streets. A meet-and-greet dinner with the cowboys will be held following the event at the Hanceville Civic Center.

City officials are weighing whether to bundle the event with a summer concert as part of next year’s Hanceville Summer Concert series. Nail said the council will discuss next year’s concert scheduling at a future meeting.