Meet your staff ...

Although there are a lot of new faces in the Professional Services department, each person brings years of experience and talent to help meet the needs of" NRPA's branches.

Director of Professional Services Gary Fenton has been working with NRPA since January after working in the field for 35 years. A sell-described "Air Force brat," Fenton has traveled all over the country and throughout the world. Through his experiences, he has found that he values the profession for its lasting impacts on people and the land. In his spare time, Fenton likes to garden, write, read and kayak.

With 12 years experience in the field, Tara Fitzpatrick has her hands full at the office working as the certification/CEU/agency accreditation program manager. In addition to overseeing individual certification and CEU applications, she is also the liaison to the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies and the National Certification Board. When not working, she enjoys watching movies and relaxing in her home in Ashburn, Va.

Roy Geiger, manager of the National Playground Safety Program, monitors and administers all playground safety-related efforts, lie's a true outdoor enthusiast, who enjoys birding, conservation and is active in his children's team sports. While working for the National Wildlife Federation in 1982, he even toured the country for 15 weeks with a bald eagle, educating people about the birds. He said, "How can you not like a profession whose goal is to help everyone of all ages play, and appreciate the importance of play, in all its forms?"

Laura Heyer has been the department's professional services coordinator for three years. Her job includes assisting program managers, as well as serving as staff liaison for the AFRS branch. Her love of the outdoors brought her to the field, and believes that parks and recreation are a part of a healthy lifestyle. She practices that philosophy by coaching swimming and bowling three nights a week. In her spare time, she is a "cookie mom" for her daughter's Girl Scout troop.

Serving as aquatic manager, Sharon Mannion is the veteran of the department, having worked at NRPA for six years. She got involved with the field while raising her daughters who enjoyed team sports. Although she will probably never get to Antarctica, she would like to say she's been to all six other continents--she's already been to four! She also enjoys crocheting, reading and gardening.

Tanya McAdory came to NRPA in September 2004 as the therapeutic recreation/APRS program manager, but has always known that parks and recreation would be a big part of her life. "Imagine how happy I was to find out that you could actually get paid for this!" she said. She swam competitively for 18 years, and recently coached a swimmer named Kara Sheridan in the Paralympics Games in Athens, Greece, where Sheridan broke two American swimming records.

Heather Strickland just joined the team on a permanent basis, but has been working in the office for more than four months as a coordinator for the department. Although she's never worked in the park and recreation field, she loves spending time outdoors either hiking or golfing. Hailing from Philadelphia, she is an avid sports fan (sorry--no Eagles win this year) and roots for all her hometown teams.

Taking on the job of academic affairs manager, former professor Danielle Timmerman works with the NRPA/AALR Council of Accreditation, the SPRE Branch and Student Branch. An avid camper and hiker, she loves traveling and enjoying the outdoors. Timmerman also enjoys reading (especially Harry Potter books) and finding odd roadside attractions throughout her travels.