Gold Medal Award To Glenview

Pictured in the center is Richard E. Johns receiving the Gold Medal Award, plaque, flag and $1,000 grant to his district. On the left is G. Marvin Shutt, Secy. of Sports Foundation and on right is Hal Cunningham, President of National Sporting Goods Association.

The Glenview Park District is one of five national winners named in the annual Gold Medal Awards program for excellence in park and recreation management. Glenview won in Class IV (population 20,000-50,000). The award, sponsored by The Sports Foundation, Inc., was presented at a special recognition breakfast on Tuesday, February 9, in Chicago during the 42nd annual National Sporting Goods Association Convention and Show.

Among outstanding elements of Glenview's program cited by the judging panel were the accessibility of park and recreation programs to all citizens in the community, the initiative and cooperative efforts in forming the first Special Recreation District in the United States to serve the recreational needs of handicapped children, and the school grounds beautification program in exchange for use of school facilities for off-hour recreation. Also noted was the leadership playground program, unusually innovative senior citizens program, and a high degree of community involvement in all age groups.

Other 1970 Gold Medal Award winners are:
Class I (population over 250,000): Washington, D.C.;
Class II (population 100,000-250,-000): Madison, Wisconsin;
Class III (population 50,000-100,000): Stockton, California;
and Class V (population under 20,000) : Lewiston, Idaho.

Sound financing, far-sighted land acquisition, strong leadership, balanced but flexible programming, and overall planning and cooperation with other agencies are key program criteria. Of special interest to the judges is the degree to which the department has succeeded in assessing and meeting the recreational needs and desires of the community residents.

Members of the judging panel for 1970 Gold Medal Awards program are nationally-recognized authorities in the fields of park and recreation planning, programming, and management. They include Dr. Jackson M. Anderson, Chairman, Department of Recreation & Park Administration, University of Minnesota; William B. Pond, Executive Officer of the National Recreation & Park Association; L. A. Critzer, Jr., General Manager of the Hay-ward (California) Area Recreation & Park District (a former Gold Medal winner) ; and Edwin R. Smith, Director, City of Eugene (Oregon) Parks & Recreation Department (a former Gold Medal winner).

The Sports Foundation, Inc., is a non-profit organization founded to encourage interest and participation in sports and sports-related activities. The Foundation initiated the Gold Medal Awards program in 1966 to focus national attention on the achievements of outstanding community park and recreation departments across the nation.

In 1968, realizing that preservation and protection of the country's water resources are essential to their recreational as well as industrial and general use, the Gold Medal Awards program added a division citing American companies for their efforts and accomplishments in water pollution control.

This year for the first time an award will be made to a state for its park and recreation management program. The winner of this initial Gold Medal Award is the State of Washington.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 20 March/April, 1971