Trailblazers: a helping hand: Col. Harlan Tucker explains how he became a 40-year volunteer.

About 40 years ago, Col. Harlan Tucker was asked to organize a summer playground. Some might say the 30-year military veteran took that challenge a bit further. During his tenure as a park volunteer in Bowie, Md., he was responsible for opening five new parks in the city, and prepared its recreation master plan. He also served on the board of the Volunteer Branch of the Maryland Recreation and Park Association (MRPA).

He is serving his seventh term as the chairman of Friends of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. After his ninth term as president of the Prince George's Federation of Parks and Recreation Councils in his 39-year history with the federation, he was awarded MRPA's coveted Connie Romanello Lifetime Volunteer Award. Tucker has also been the recipient of the MRPA Agency Volunteer of the Year award, the Mid-Atlantic Region MRPA Special Citizen Citation, the Governor's Volunteer and Service Award, Bowie Blade-News Outstanding Citizen of the Year award, Prince George's County Volunteer of the Year in both 1982 and 1988 and was named to the Maryland Senior Citizen's Hall of Fame. But nothing seems to wear Tucker down. He stays busy with the Senior Olympics and is an avid tennis and softball player.

Proudest moment: "I think probably my proudest moment was the dedication of the National Wildlife Visitor Center [on the Patuxent Research Refuge] in October of 1994, which opened after about six years of effort. There was a committee formed in 1988 to investigate funding for the center. That committee worked for the six years and initially we tried to fund it through commercial, public and private sources and that didn't succeed. We finally succeeded by working with Congress to get the $18 million necessary to build it. I was a member of the organizing committee and a founding member of the board of directors of the Friends of the Patuxent [Wildlife Research Center] that still support the center."

Words of wisdom: "Don't be afraid to volunteer, don't be reluctant to ask for help and don't be afraid to find your niche."

Future of park and recreation: "I think that there are several problems. You have a population that's increasing and the population is aging, and consequently, there are more demands for recreation and less space--less area for parks and recreation. It's kind of a catch-as-catch-can proposition trying to find enough space, facilities and money for increasing demand for parks and recreation. When there's a challenge for funding, that means there are not necessarily fewer opportunities, but the pay scale for park and recreation professionals has not necessarily kept up with other professions. The net result is there are fewer people going into the profession than have in the past. Many schools have closed their programs and that's another problem."

Slogan to live by: "The main thing to keep in mind is 'try to make a difference.' Try to make a difference wherever you are, in whatever niche or whatever area that you're in. Everything I've ever engaged in, that's always been my motto--make a difference."

Name            Col. Harlan Tucker
Title           Retired, former president of the Prince George's
                Federation of Parks and Recreation Councils
Member since    2001