Admin Management Excellence
Grapevine
This award recognizes innovations in administration, management or supervisory actions, and this year’s winner is Grapevine for Element 26.
After vast departmental and organizational changes the City of Grapevine created Element 26, a mentor program, which has developed and promoted structure and positive leadership within the culture of Grapevine PARD.
Excellence in Planning
Houston
Alief Neighborhood Center and Par
A redevelopment of 37 acres in Houston between the Houston Library, Parks and Recreation, and the city Health Department, the Alief Neighborhood Center and Park project sought to address outdated public amenities that no longer met community needs. Assessments, surveys, public meetings, and interviews in the community were used to incorporate public input to update this now beautiful and purposeful area of the city. Today the Alief Neighborhood Center and Park seeks to build civic engagement, create a culture of health for the Alief community, and innovate a new prototype for serving the community!
Maintenance Achievement
Georgetown
San Gabriel Pedestrian Crossing
Rebuilding bridges is not your typical duty as a maintenance worker working within parks and recreation, but that is exactly what this maintenance team of Georgetown did. After catastrophic flooding along the San Gabriel River wiped all but small sections of a pedestrian bridge that connected valued trail loop systems, the team got creative and worked through funding limitations to save the city over $135,000 dollars with in house repairs so the community would again have access to a valued community resource.
Park Design Excellence
Farmers Branch
Barney Wood Bark ParkThe Farmers Branch Barney Wood Bark Park is a 1 of a kind dog park and event venue! The first and only municipal dog park in the city, this outdoor space was retrofitted from an old athletic field after much feedback from citizen surveys. This community dog park is a staple in this beautiful community for dogs and their humans.
Dan Whitworth Fellow
Pam Nelson
Pam Nelson is a treasure to the Colony, TRAPS, and the parks and recreation industry. She has served the society in many positions including as President of the organization, as regional director, through board memberships, as a legislative advocate, through institute volunteering, and as member of many committees. Throughout her 30+ year career, she has never chosen to rest on her laurels. She continues to strive to find innovation and to encourage others to find their voices in order to ensure the future of our profession.
Individual Outstanding Service
Deborah Marzec
Multi-talented and dedicated to her community, Deborah Marzec spends countless hours working to enrich the lives of the community members in Elgin. She has created gardens and nationally recognized wildlife habitats in her spare time that have helped transform the landscape and the lives of all community members of Elgin for the better. Her volunteerism, event planning, and overall positivity have proven to be extremely invaluable to many families in need within the community.
Agency Outstanding Service
Hutto
The Keep Hutto Beautiful initiative has played an integral part in the enhancement of the beautification of amenities and open spaces for leisure activities within the community. The partnerships and collaborations of the Hutto PARD, Hutto ISD, the Chamber of commerce, and the East Williamson County Higher Education Center have had a positive impact on the appearance of Hutto and its parks by keeping the community environmentally engaged through education, green initiatives, and beautification opportunities.
Recreation Facility Design
The Woodlands
Texas Tree Ventures
An underutilized space at the center of Rob Fleming Park was transformed after being acquired through a bid process from the YMCA and the Texas Tree Ventures was born! This aerial adventure course was uniquely crafted with marketing, programming, surround flood plains, and community needs in mind. Even being 150 yards into the surrounding woody area, this is a can’t miss attraction!
Honorary Life Membership
Dock Jackson
Dock Jackson has dedicated his life to advancing parks and recreation in the communities where he has lived and worked. For the past 35 years, both at the state and national levels, he has worked his way up the career ladder to become an accomplished and distinguished parks and recreation professional. Through his dedicated efforts at the City of Elgin, where he brought a department up from scratch, and in roles as an elected official, as a liaison for parks boards, and in leadership roles through the Texas Municipal league and for the Texas Association of Black City Council Members, Dock has worked as an advocate for our profession and all of us who care about parks and recreation. He has demonstrated exemplary service and has always gone above and beyond to become a shining example of a dedicated steward to the field.
Educator Outstanding Performance
Deidre Williams
Deidre Williams is a passionate Coastal Research Scientist working along the Texas coast since the early 1990’s. She conducts research, applies trend analysis, and creates online data interface to create visuals that help Park and Recreation professionals understand coastal processes that cause erosion along beach environments. Through her interactive presentations PARD professionals are able to identify solutions to resource management issues and to support long term planning toward substantial beach management practices for all city public beach parks!
Arts & Humanities
Class I
El Paso
“Entradas y Salidas”
Collaborations between multiple senior centers in El Paso through funding from multiple grants, Entradas Y Salidas focuses on increasing the quality of life of senior participants through reinvigoration of life through the arts.
Class II
Grand Prairie
Game on! Summer Camp Music Video
Campers from different summer camps within Grand Prairie came together to work with videographers and music producers to result in the first ever point of view music video of their summer camp experiences! Campers wrote, recorded, edited, and produced content, which premiered at their Annual Theater Dance Day for their friends and loved ones to enjoy.
Class III
Weatherford
The Cliburn Comes to Chandor Gardens
Through collaborations between Weatherford PARD, local non-profits, and the Chandor Gardens Foundation, classical piano music concerts and programs are provided to enrich the lives of children and the citizens of surrounding cities to promote art, culture, and community.
Class IV
Elgin
Trash Art Week Crafts and Contest
To connect the community more deeply with recycling and with their own creativity, the city of Elgin hosted their first ever Trash Week Crafts and Contest. This event encouraged participants within the community of Elgin to express themselves while bringing to the forefront the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling by turning trash into works of art for display in the local recreation center!
Marketing & Promotions
Class I
San Antonio
In the summer of 2019 San Antonio Parks and Recreation passed their Smoke and Tobacco Free Campaign so that visitors could enjoy all of the city’s beautiful amenities and outdoor spaces free of smoke and tobacco. The Parks and Recreation Marketing team created a marketing campaign that utilized a multi platform approach including radio, t.v., billboards, social media, email, and public relations while also translating all messages to Spanish to reach and inform all peoples in a multicultural region about this wonderful city wide health initiative.
Class II
Round Rock
As a part of their Marketing/Communications/Media Relations plan, the city of Round Rock uses multiple forms of communication including websites, online program registration, social media, television, and print to help generate more than $300,000 in positive media value and over $120,000 in sponsorship annually to support city wide programs and events!
Class III
Southlake
Leading up to the opening of The Champions Club, a world-class multigenerational recreational facility, the city of Southlake collaborated with social influencers to reach target audiences and surpass membership goals by utilizing all media outlets, including Facebook Live, to establish a brand of Champions for their awesome new facility.
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Lone Star Programming Achievement
Class I
Dallas
Outdoor Adventures
After identifying a lack of adventure recreation within their programming, the City of Dallas parks and recreation created Outdoor Adventures with the goals to eliminate all barriers from participation of community members in a safe, educational, and enjoyable fashion. Through collaborations with the City of Austin, R.E.I., and Texas Park and Wildlife, Outdoor Adventures is able to provide non-traditional outdoor recreation opportunities for all, including mountain biking, kayaking, fishing, and overnight camping trips to Texas State Parks!
Class II
Denton
Farm to Table Camp
Farm to table camp is a hands-on-interactive half day camp for kids ages 6-12 with the purpose to teach youth about where their food comes from, how to prepare healthy food choices, and learning easy and nutritious recipes.
Class III
Pflugerville
Unplug and Explore
Unplug and Explore was created to bring an alternate form of outdoor recreation to the community and residents of Pflugerville . Its goals include increasing the physical, mental, and emotional health of participants while creating a sense of adventure and exploration towards nature.
Class IV
Ingleside
Family Night
Family Nights was created to promote a sense of belonging and positive memories for families on Friday nights. Each week family activities are created and facilitated to promote communication between children and their parents through crafts, snacks and friendly competitions!
Gold Medal
Class II
League City
League City Parks and Recreation department is to provide a diverse menu of quality recreation programs that address citizens needs, encourage community health and wellness, and promote a lifelong recreational lifestyle. Most recently, through the results of needs assessments, League City has put a focus on non-traditional programming, outdoor education, home economics, and fitness for youth. The result has been an increase in participation in these programs with an increase in revenue due to the great customer service!
Class IV
West University Place
The West University Place Parks and Recreation Department serves a community of approximately 15,600 residents. West U manages to have a wonderful small-town feel, even though it’s located within the heart of Houston, the 4th largest city in the nation. Quality of life and the small-town lifestyle are the driving force that make West U ranked as #1 of “Americas 50 Best Cities to Live” in 2018, and its park and recreational opportunities are one of the biggest reasons why!
Thanks to the vision and support of West U’s citizens and leadership, the Parks and Recreation Department has grown from a system of aging facilities and parks to a comprehensive parks system, which now includes a state-of-the-art fitness recreation center with an indoor pool, family aquatic and tennis complex, senior center, community building and scout facilities. With the addition of Hughes Park in 2018, West U now has a park within walking distance of all residents!
Young Professional Award
Kevin Browne
A tireless contributor to the TRAPS organization, with over 10 years of service excellence, Kevin Browne has become a well rounded and initiative driven professional while serving at both the regional and state level. As one of the founders of the Young Professional Branch and the TRAPS mentorship program; a TRAPS Academy of Leadership Development graduate; and currently serving as Missouri City’s Superintendent of Recreation, Kevin Browne has excelled as a creative, as a programmer, and as a business leader within the parks and recreation field