Staunton Parks and Recreation Department wins two state awards

The City of Staunton Parks and Recreation Department received two state awards at the Virginia Recreation and Park Society’s Annual Conference.

Out of 101 applications submitted in 14 categories, Staunton’s submissions won in two categories:

• Best New Special Event for Irish Road Bowling. The Irish Road Bowling event was held last March around St. Patrick’s Day in Montgomery Hall Park. More than 14 teams participated in this 300-year-old Irish tradition.
• Best New Environmental Sustainability project for the renovation of Lake Tams. Lake Tams in Gypsy Hill Park was renovated in 2015 and now features a stone retaining wall, vegetative bank to stabilize erosion, a forebay to reduce sediment deposits, and an asphalt path allowing lake access to people with disabilities.

Christopher Tuttle, director of Staunton Parks and Recreation, said: “We are both honored and grateful to have received these awards. We owe special thanks to the Staunton engineering department for their work on the Lake Tams project, and we’d like to thank the citizens of Staunton for their continued support.”

About the Virginia Recreation and Park Society

The VRPS is a private, non-profit professional organization. Its purpose is to unify all professionals, students, and interested laypersons engaged in the field of recreation, parks and other leisure services in Virginia. The statewide awards program honors individuals, departments and organizations throughout Virginia who have demonstrated excellence in any of several areas during the previous year. The awards were selected and appointed by a VRPS awards committee composed of peers and colleagues from other Park & Recreation departments throughout Virginia.