One of the big goals of Congress is to recognize members and agencies in the field of parks and recreation that have made notable strides to advance the profession. Each year, NRPA highlights the accomplishments and achievements of these individuals and groups through a variety of ceremonies and recognition events.

Gold Medal Awards

Highly prized and equally respected, the Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management is the highest national award that a park and recreation department can receive. Presented by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA) in partnership with NRPA, and proudly sponsored by Musco Lighting, the Gold Medal Award honors communities throughout the United States that demonstrate excellence in long-range planning, resource management and agency recognition. The Gold Medal Award Program includes seven classes: five classes based upon population, one class for armed forces recreation and one class for state park systems in odd numbered years.

The 2013 Gold Medal Grand Plaque recipients are:

• Class I (population 250,000 and over): City of Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine, California
• Class II (population 100,001–250,000): Round Rock Parks and Recreation Department, Texas
• Class III (population 50,001–100,000) Waukegan Park District, Illinois
• Class IV (population 25,001–50,000): City of Westerville Parks and Recreation Department, Ohio
• Class V (population less than 25,000): Town of Erie Parks and Recreation Department, Colorado
• State Park System Class: Florida Park Service, Florida Department of Environmental Protection
• Armed Forces Recreation Class: Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, Fort Knox, Kentucky

Browse a full list of finalists.

National Awards

At the Best of the Best Ceremony held the evening of Wednesday, October 9, NRPA presented a number of awards and recognized several agencies and individuals for their professional development. National Awards were presented to Dundee L. Jones; Thomas G. Venniro; the Northwest Special Recreation Association, Rolling Meadows, Illinois; the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation, Texas; Smale Riverfront Park, Cincinnati, Ohio; the McHenry County Conservation District, Woodstock, Illinois; and the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana,  for excellence in a variety of areas including professional and voluntary service, programming, leadership, research and public outreach.

Scholarships and Fellowships

Also at the Best of the Best Ceremony, scholarships and fellowships were awarded to seven candidates who have demonstrated significant contributions to the field of parks and recreation. Marcus Coates and Edward Matthews won the Diversity Scholarship, Sarah Walters and Antonio Washington won the Student Scholarship, and Brooke Burk, Mariana Espinoza, Jennifer Jones and Anna Wood were this year’s Young Professional Fellowship recipients.

Robert W. Crawford Hall of Fame

The public recreation and park movement in America owes its existence and growth to the vision and dedication of individuals who have worked to improve the quality of life in America through parks and recreation. The leaders recognized in the Robert W. Crawford Recreation and Park Hall of Fame serve as examples for future leaders. At this year’s Best of the Best Ceremony, NRPA was honored to induct two outstanding individuals into the Hall of Fame: Charles Odegaard and Frances Wallach.

Charles H. Odegaard – “Nothing happens without public support and understanding.” This was his mantra and a mantra that served him well during his more than 50 years contributing to and serving the field of parks and recreation.

Odegaard advocated and implemented new ways to manage and establish parks that protected treasured cultural and natural areas while providing significant opportunities for public recreation. He garnered support to increase park acquisitions, established programs in historic preservation, scenic and recreational highways, snow parks, outdoor learning centers and access to ocean beaches for all citizens. He challenged those in parks and recreation to be forward-thinking in meeting the needs of constituents and was dedicated to helping others advance their careers in the field.

Odegaard worked in all levels of government including 16 years as director of the Washington State Park and Recreation Commission. He was regional director for the Pacific Northwest and Midwest Regions of the National Park Service for 20 years. He also worked for the National Recreation Association, served as a member of the NRPA Board of Trustees and was president of eight additional organizations. He taught park management at several institutions, wrote numerous articles and co-authored Park Management.

Frances Wallach – “The mother of playground safety.” She understood the value of standards and worked tirelessly for playground safety improvements for consumers through standards.  Her legacy includes contributing to the development of the leading standards for playground safety and equipment design as well as playing an instrumental role in establishing the Certified Playground Safety Inspector certification.

During her tenure serving on playground safety committees for ASTM International, Wallach contributed to the development of the Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specification for Playground Equipment for Public Use, the industry standard for playground equipment design. In addition, she was a member of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Safety Standards Committee which was responsible for providing the Handbook for Public Playground Safety, the nationally recognized guideline promoting playground safety and practices. These two publications are used as the authority references for the Certified Playground Safety Inspection certification program.

In addition to her extensive work with playground safety, she was also active in the area of gerontology and therapeutic recreation, and she served on the President’s Council for Employment of Persons with Disabilities and the Access Board’s Regulatory Negotiation Committee on Accessibility for Play Facilities.

Wallach served on various other national boards and commissions as well, received numerous awards and wrote many articles for national publications. Wallach’s life’s work was about play and play safety and her contributions to the field of playground safety are unparalleled.

CAPRA and COAPRT Accreditations

The Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) added the following new agencies to the list of nationally accredited park and recreation departments at this year’s Best of the Best Ceremony:

• City of Mesa Parks, Recreation and Commercial Facilities Department, Arizona
• Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District, California
• City of Lafayette Department of Recreation, Senior Services, Facility Management and Department of Parks Open Space and Golf, Colorado
• City of New London Recreation Department, Connecticut 
• District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation, Washington, D.C. 
• City of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, Florida 
• City of Woodstock Parks and Recreation Department, Georgia
• Hoffman Estates Park District, Illinois
• Town of Sudbury Park and Recreation Department, Massachusetts
• Cleveland Metroparks, Ohio
• City of Pearland Parks and Recreation, Texas
• City of Eau Claire Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, Wisconsin
• City of Waukesha Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, Wisconsin

Additionally, the below agencies were reaccredited in 2013 and recognized at the ceremony:

• City of Bakersfield Recreation and Parks Department, California
• City of Alpharetta Recreation and Parks Department, Georgia
• Oak Lawn Park District, Illinois
• Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Division of Parks and Recreation, Kentucky 
• Canton Township Leisure Services Department, Michigan
• City of Saint Paul Department of Parks and Recreation, Minnesota
• City of Lee's Summit Parks and Recreation, Missouri
• City of Durham Parks and Recreation Department, North Carolina
• Town of Cary Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources, North Carolina
• Bismarck Parks and Recreation District, North Dakota
• Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Conservation, New York 
• Metropolitan Park District of the Toledo Area, Ohio
• City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department, Texas
• City of Roanoke Parks and Recreation, Virginia
• Fairfax County Park Authority, Virginia

CAPRA accreditation is a five-year process based on compliance with the 144 standards for national accreditation, and it provides assurance to the public that the agency meets national standards of best practice.

Similarly, the Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions (COAPRT) recognized the recent accreditation of California State University–Long Beach’s Recreation and Leisure Studies program. COAPRT recognizes academic programs in colleges and universities that prepare new professionals to enter parks, recreation, tourism and related professions. COAPRT accreditation is a status granted to baccalaureate academic programs that meet or exceed stated criteria of educational quality. 

CPRP/CPRE

The last group of individuals recognized at the Best of the Best Ceremony was the contingent of people who recently earned their Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) or Certified Park and Recreation Executive (CPRE) certifications. The CPRP certification is granted to individuals employed in the recreation, park resources and leisure services profession who meet high standards of performance, while the CPRE certification can be achieved by individuals in the field who meet high standards of performance at a mastery (middle to upper management) level. This year’s ceremony recognized the 399 CPRPs certified between July 2012 and July 2013 as well as the 102 CPREs certified between October 2011 and July 2013.

Pugsley Award

Awarded by AAPRA at the academy banquet on Thursday, October 10, the Honorable Cornelius Amory Pugsley Medals are prestigious awards that recognize outstanding contributions to the promotion and development of public parks in the United States. Each year, medals honoring extraordinary service are awarded at the national, state/regional and local levels. This year’s honorees are Beverly (Brandes) Chrisman, John H. Davis and Barry S. Tindall.

Chrisman was honored for more than 40 years of impassioned advocacy for parks and recreation activities and the benefits they contribute to communities. She was active at the local, state and national levels, including serving as NRPA board chair from 1991 to 1995. A sought-after political consultant with a reputation for excellence in grassroots organizing, she was involved in numerous successful campaigns for South Carolina governors, U.S. senators and members of Congress. She was acknowledged for her practiced belief that all things are possible and that working together, people can all make a difference in the lives of others.

For more than 40 years, John Davis was a leader in the field of parks and recreation. He is credited with breaking down barriers in the 1960s by encouraging recreation professionals of color to attend a 10-state Southern Regional Conference for the first time. He served as president of NRPA in 1975, and he was the NRPA executive director for ten years following that. During his tenure, NRPA membership grew substantially, and he was acknowledged for increased public visibility and support for parks and recreation.

Tindall was NRPA’s Director of Public Policy for more than 35 years and is credited with involvement in many successful initiatives. Noteworthy was the continued appropriations for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Others included restoration of urban parks and facilities, transfer of federal surplus lands to state and local agencies, and transfer of reclaimed toxic sites to local agencies. He worked for inclusion of recreation objectives in clean water strategies and greater involvement of recreation entities in the USDA summer school food programs. He pushed for gender equity, services for youth in high-risk environments, conservation of abandoned rail rights-of-way for local and state recreation, and development of recreation trails as a part of federal transportation programs. 

Quiz Bowl

Finally, this year’s fourth annual Park & Recreation Student Quiz Bowl was again one of the most fun events at Congress, with teams from Cal Poly–San Luis Obispo, Texas State University, Brigham Young University, Texas A&M University and Oklahoma State University going head to head. After several entertaining rounds of competition, Texas A&M won the game, and COAPRT Chair Michael Blazey presented the winning team with their awards.

NRPA would like to congratulate all award winners and finalists on their accomplishments recognized this year in Houston. 

Written by Brenda Beales, Danielle Price and Danielle Taylor