INDIANAPOLIS — The inside of the gym at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church has been transformed into a history museum as it gets ready to celebrate 100 years of Tab Recreation. It's been a staple at the corner of 34th and Central.
"When I came here, that’s where I found a huge softball program, a growing soccer program, a basketball program," said John Byers, a director at Tab Recreation for more than 20 years. "We were serving a lot of kids."
Ephraim Owens is one of those kids. On Friday, he was in the neighborhood and stopped in to see if he was in any of the pictures.
"It was incredible. I was a Tab all-star. I got to do the travel team, from that I got to play soccer at various different tournaments that I would not have if Tab wasn’t here, so it provided excellent exposure, teaching and coaching for years," said Owens.
Owens grew up down the street. He says while the neighborhood has changed, Tab Rec has remained a constant.
"Serving people where they're at and bringing a sports opportunity for kids and parents to get involved. It's been amazing," said Owens.
"It never stopped being important to the neighborhood," said Bruce McDonald.
McDonald says he's a lifelong tab kid. His parents when there, he played there, coached his kids for 18 years and then watched one of his grandchildren play.
"When you think about it, it’s incredibly rare for a program to sustain itself for 10 decades," said McDonald.
While reflecting on the past is top of mind, Byers says now they're looking at what's coming next.
"Look forward 25 to 50 years down the road, what would we like to be?" said Byers.
Tab Rec is holding a festival on Saturday, September 14, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
