Members of the Town of Fountain Hills Community Services Department will learn in September if they are bringing home the gold.

The town is a national finalist as the Grand Plaque Award honoree for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management, which will be awarded on Sept. 21 at the national convention. The recognition is from the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA), in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA).

“This is an exciting recognition for the Town and the staff of our outstanding Community Services Department,” said Mayor Ginny Dickey. “We are fortunate to have world-class parks, trails, and services that residents and visitors enjoy. Our small, but mighty department, deserves this acknowledgment.”

The National Gold Medal Awards program honors communities in the United States that demonstrate excellence in parks and recreation through long-range planning, resource management, volunteerism, environmental stewardship, program development, professional development and agency recognition.

Working to achieve this recognition is a very competitive process, according to Community Services Director Rachael Goodwin.

“We worked for more than four months to complete the extensive application and submitted it along with hundreds of others nationwide,” Goodwin said. “From those submissions, four finalists were chosen in each population category.

“The reason this honor is so significant is that generally, agencies apply multiple times before they are even considered as a finalist. Many of this year’s finalists have been finalist for several years but have not yet been selected as the overall Gold Medal winner.

“This effort to distinguish our community as a Gold Medal winner is highly coveted and is the very highest honor an agency can receive.

“To put it another way, consider that we made it to the NCAA Final Four! We have one more game to play!”

Applications are separated into six classes, with five classes based on population and one class for armed forces. The seven Grand Plaque recipients will be announced during the 2021 NRPA Conference, held virtually and in-person September 21-23 in Nashville, Tenn.

Fountain Hills is a finalist in the Class Five (population 30,000 or less) category. Communities in this category also include East Goshen Township Parks and Recreation, West Chester, Pa., Deerfield Park District, Deerfield, Ill., and Vernon Hills Park District, Vernon Hills, Ill.

The Community Services Department oversees and works collaboratively with many community organizations to maintain and provide services with Town parks, trails, Community Center, parks and recreation, community arts programs, volunteers, special events, Home Delivered Meals, and more.

“It is a collaborative team approach with our partners and staff to create programs and services and continually improve our parks to meet the needs and desires of our residents,” Goodwin said.

For more information on the National Gold Medal Award Program and the Town of Fountain Hills Community Services Department, visit fh.az.gov/187/Community-Services.