Meet Tracy McCullen | Community Ambassador of Health & Wellness

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tracy McCullen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tracy, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
OPTIMISM OASIS, featuring the Track of Optimism & Field of Dreams (to be attached to Boys & Girls Clubs and/or inner city parks across America) is a unique 4 acre edutainment park providing children, youth & young adults with an abundance audio/visual simulation promoting a healthy lifestyle and a positive mindset, inspired with confidence to go out into the world with a desire to make a powerful & positive impact in their community.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a visual artist of outdoor space designing gardens and parks with unique features/exhibits that inspire a desire to connect with nature and other people for a holistic love for the environment & humanity. I have been fortunate to travel the world and to be inspired by unique outdoor spaces and science museums that inspire kids to explore a world of infinite possibilities! :-))

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Without a doubt, the most exciting place for fine wine, dining & music is at home with my brilliant wife, Dorothy Papadakos (Juilliard graduate, former cathedral organist at St. John the Divine, NYC, and occasionally with 7 time grammy award winning band, the Paul Winter Consort) who is now developing a broadway bound musical UNCORK’D, first musical about wine! So our home is the most exciting place to be in Wilmington for diner as Dorothy is a gourmet Greek cook who loves to entertain at the piano with her own Broadway tunes like ‘Sex in a Glass’ from a wine tasting scene in ancient Pompeii with the God of Wine, BACCHUS! Otherwise, Wilmington has beautiful beaches & gardens and a beautiful ‘Mini Charleston’ historic district on the river but with a dark history of the only successful government coup in America in 1898 when a white racist mob attacked, killed and ran out of town many progressive Black politicians & prominent citizens. So in the entry building of the Optimism Oasis will be a 12,000 sf African American Center for Arts, Culture & History overlooking the Global Stage of Imagination Amphitheatre which will host a summer outdoor symphonic & theatrical event telling the story of the African American journey across the ocean, into slavery, through the Civil War, to prosperity, to 1898 – 2020 & back on the journey of hope for the future of humanity through compassionate unity of purpose.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My SHOUTOUT is to the kids of the world and especially those at the Community Boys & Girls Club of Wilmington who inspire me to live every day in a world of optimism, believing that together we can make a powerful & positive impact in our community and eventually across America. I am so driven by my passion to raise awareness & money for the TRACK of Optimism & FIELD of Dreams that I recently ran 100 miles BACKWARDS in 48 hours at the UNCW track with my good friend & round the clock supporter, Charlie Engle. Mayor Bill Saffo came out and spoke to a big crowd of supporters, fiftyof whom ran the first mile backwards with me so the Mayor was so inspired that he came back 48 hours later and ran the last mile of my 100 miles BACKWARDS!! :-))

Website: 100ultra4kids.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tracy.mccullen.1

Youtube: https://youtu.be/eSWG42iBCYU