September 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 86

NRPA Update

Member Spotlight:
Patricia Armstrong

few years ago, we shone the spotlight on Patricia Armstrong who has
been a dedicated NRPA volunteer and served on several NPRA committees since joining the association more than 20 years ago. She has
been the director of parks, recreation, beaches and cemeteries for the
town of Yarmouth since the mid-1980s and is currently the chair of the 2015 NRPA
Annual Conference Program Committee. Here, we learn a bit more about her path
to the field of parks and recreation and what was top of mind for the Program
Committee as it put together the educational offerings for this year's Conference.

Parks & Recreation magazine: How
did you get your start in the industry?
Patricia Armstrong: I was a YMCA
major at Springfield College in
Springfield, Massachusetts, studying
physical education and fitness, and
my roommate was a parks and recreation specialist. I watched as she
did all these really exciting and fun
things as part of her studies. I started my career at the Y, but after a few
years, I was disheartened. One day,
that college roommate called and
said, " There's this great job in the
next town, " which was Yarmouth. " I
think you'd like it...come on down, "
and I applied and I got my first job in
the industry as the director of recreation. That was back in 1986. Over
time, my responsibilities grew to include parks, beaches and cemeteries.
P&R: What do your day-to-day responsibilities entail?
Armstrong: I oversee the day-to-day
operations for a staff of 15 and a seasonal staff of about 160. I have managers that oversee a lot of the details,
but I'm there to support decisions
and to oversee the larger projects and
budgeting challenges.
P&R: What has been the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Armstrong: I would say securing
84 Parks & Recreation

funding both privately and through the
tax base to make major infrastructure
changes that impact the lives of many
of the members of our community.
P&R: How did you get involved with
the Program Committee?
Armstrong: When I went to my first
Congress back in Phoenix, I knew a
couple of the members of the Program Committee and I watched
them be so excited not only about
Congress, but also about what they
were learning and what they were being exposed to. They talked about the
evaluation of proposals for presentations and how they were exposed to
the cutting-edge ideas and programs
happening across the country, and I
thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to be able to be involved
with that and to bring some of that
knowledge back home. I was lucky
enough after a few years to be appointed by the then-Administrators
Network to be a representative on the
Program Committee, and it has been
one of the best experiences I've ever
had with NRPA.
P&R: As the chair of the Program
Committee, what's the one thing
you'd like Conference attendees
to know was a top priority for the
committee as it was putting togeth-

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er the educational offerings?
Armstrong: Obviously, the diversity of
interest and the community sizes was
taken into consideration. So many of
the speakers are applicable not only to
large, urban centers, but also to small,
rural communities. Across the board,
we were trying to bring technology and
new trends into the program presentations so that people could use their
phones instead of having to turn them
off, could bring their tablets and take
notes and start communicating and establishing relationships through those
technologies with others at the Conference. We worked hard to not only do
traditional sessions, but also to include
these small, short sessions - Speed Sessions - that we feel really bring a new
aspect of excitement the conference.
P&R: What's your favorite park and
recreation activity and why?
Armstrong: I enjoy most water activities, from swimming and kayaking,
to shell fishing and boating. Cape
Cod has some of the most beautiful
beaches, both oceanfront and freshwater, anywhere in the United States.
My golden retriever Duke often joins
me for a boat ride and a swim.
- Sonia Myrick, Managing Editor of
Parks & Recreation magazine

September 2015 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2015 - Parks & Recreation