Operations Recreational Association (ORA)

The Operations Recreation Association, or ORA, was a staple organization of the Savannah River Plant that was formed in the early days of the site and played a major role in fostering a strong sense of community that’s been felt throughout the sites’ history. While the ORA wasn’t officially established until early 1953, SRP began laying its groundwork on July 3, 1952, with the announcement of three recreational areas being constructed for the use of employees and their families in the SRP News and Views newspaper. These areas would be built on SRP property, just outside of the perimeter fence, in locations deemed the most convenient to employees. Construction was quick and easy, so employees were able to start participating in activities within a year of the announcement. The recreational grounds hosted baseball, softball, volleyball, horseshoe pitching, races, picnics, and children’s playgrounds.

During this early period, activities were organized by 15 individual organizations for each area of the site. These smaller recreation associations were overseen by the Central Recreation Committee, which planned the plant-wide events and provided equipment to members of the area associations. The newly created SRP News was used to promote the new grounds and events to employees across the site. This worked to provide the fledgling newspaper with a consistent stream of content to publish and gave employees a centralized place to read about recreation leagues results, developing projects, and future events. Eventually the Central Recreation Association would coalesce all the sub-organizations into the ORA, and they would continue to work closely with the SRP News to successfully promote events and encourage membership.

A second recreational association was created around the same time as the Central Recreation Association, known as the Colored Recreation Association. This group lasted until 1954, when it was merged with the ORA, but while it lasted, it was known to be the most active and largest association at the plant, peaking at 3,358 members. Despite the Colored Recreation Association being brought under the ORA banner, separate events for black members continued to be held throughout the 60’s, as the off-site venues used by the ORA were largely still segregated. These events were also featured in the SRP News and boasted incredible support from the community. Members showed up in droves to attend events like barbeques, dances, a monthly fishing tournament, and bingo. 

After the ORA became official, they started thinking big, but for big plans, they needed funding. This came in the way of a nominal membership fee of $1.50, with additional funding coming from money collected from the soda machines around site. This equated to thousands of dollars for the ORA to work with, and they used it for incredible events off- and on-site. Magic shows, concerts, trips, and even an indoor circus were experiences that quickly sold employees on the value of their memberships. Membership rose rapidly throughout the decade, culminating in 50 percent of eligible SRP employees becoming members by 1960. However, by 1965 membership began to drop significantly. After sustaining a 50 percent membership for years, it fell to 30 percent throughout the late 60’s and early 70’s due to less planned events, and the fact that most events were held in the Augusta area.

1975 was a year of change for the ORA, as membership was no longer excusive to eligible employees and could now be obtained by retirees and survivors of retirees. This jumpstarted an era of growth for the ORA, and by 1980, they reached a new high of 52 percent of eligible employees joining, as well as hundreds of retirees and family members. These rising numbers required the ORA to find even more funding to keep pace for events, leading to a deal that allowed them to take profits from Coke machines in 1982. This additional funding was estimated to add $200,000 a year to their budget, leading to larger events and even the purchase of off-site property that would be used for a new softball facility. By 1983, membership had reached an unprecedented 62 percent, events were well attended, and the ORA opened a store in the original site cafeteria, 708-A, until it was scheduled for demolition. The store was reopened in 766-H, and sold small goods like cards, as well as site-branded merchandise. 

This prosperity followed the ORA past the DuPont era and well into the age of the Savannah River Site, though it would eventually be renamed to the Savannah River Site Employees Association, or SRSEA. Unfortunately, recent years have not been kind to SRSEA, as the COVID-19 pandemic devastated planned events for years and resulted in the indefinite closure of the 766-H store. Most recently, the program has been terminated, ending decades of rich history and community building, but with dozens of new hires joining the site every day, hopefully a suitable replacement will be presented soon.