Roswell Wins National Parks Gold Medal Award

ROSWELL, GA -- The city of Roswell has become the first in Georgia to win the prestigious National Recreation and Parks Association’s Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Parks and Recreation Management.

Roswell obtained this honor in the Class III category (population 75,001–150,000) at the NRPA conference held Sept. 26 in New Orleans.

The award comes as the result of an extensive application process, overseen by a panel of five judges chosen for their considerable experience and knowledge in parks and recreation on both local and national levels (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app).

Roswell had previously been chosen as a Gold Medal finalist for seven consecutive years before finally clinching top honors. Only one other agency in Georgia -- Gwinnet County -- has won this award.

Roswell is the only municipality in the Peach State to have earned this honor.

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The Roswell Recreation, Parks, Historic & Cultural Affairs Department maintains more than 900 acres of parkland, 22 parks and hundreds of annual classes, programs, camps, and special events, as well as the City’s Southern Trilogy Historic House Museums (Barrington Hall, Bulloch Hall and Smith Plantation). To learn more, visit www.roswellgov.com/parks.

Photo: from left, Rusty Pruitt, Park Services Manager; Rick Dreger, Roswell Recreation Commission; Jimmy Yanulavich, Administrative Services Manager; Nancy Diamond, Roswell City Council member and Liaison to Rec & Parks; Debra Ewing, chair of Roswell Recreation Commission; Jeff Pruitt, interim director of Recreation, Parks, Historic, and Cultural Affairs Department; Jay Small, Roswell Recreation Commission; Theo Keyserling, Roswell Recreation Commission; Steven Malone, Recreation Services Manager; and Katie Troline, Community and Facilities Manager. Credit: city of Roswell.