Each year, the South Dakota Parks and Recreation Association recognizes organizations and individuals for their work and dedication to communities through parks and recreation. Awards are selected by past and present SDPRA board members composed of parks and recreation professionals. The awards encourage dedication and support to the field of parks and recreation.
2019 SDPRA Award Winners:
- Professional Service Award: Emilie Miller, SD State Parks, Pierre
- Hall of Fame Award: Bob Schneider, SD State Parks, Pierre; Lon VanDeusen, Rapid City Parks & Recreation
- Individual Citation Award: Mitch Best, Volunteer, Rapid City Parks & Recreation
- Distinguished Citizen Award: Karen Olson, Rapid City
- Young Professional Award: Erin Holmes, Rapid City Parks & Recreation
Emilie Miller of Pierre was enthusiastically endorsed as the 2019 South Dakota Parks and Recreation Association Professional Meritorious Service Award winner. Emilie has worked in the parks and recreation field for over two decades beginning as a seasonal park employee in the Watertown area. This experience affirmed her love for the outdoors and led to a career with South Dakota State Park System. Emilie has served in many capacities with the Division of Parks and Recreation with the common component being helping people and educating youth. As the Division’s park volunteer coordinator for over a decade, Emilie refined the program into one that attracts volunteers from across the nation. The budget saving value of the program is significant; but the greater value is the personal contact the volunteers have with park guests and the satisfaction received by the volunteers. State Park volunteers become some of South Dakota’s greatest ambassadors. Emilie is a gifted teacher and has a creative mind that shows no limits. Over the years, she has created innumerable outdoor education programs that are both fun and educational. In addition to “teaching the teachers” (park naturalists), she thrives on teaching in the field. Even though her weekday job ties her to a desk in the Foss Building, Emile can be found in the parks many weekends assisting with park programs, usually with her two volunteer daughters in tow. In addition to her creativity, Emilie is an excellent writer and has an analytical mind. Emilie is the Division’s go-to person for technical reports and promotion pieces. When tasked with negotiating and monitoring the Division’s multi-million-dollar campsite reservation contract, Emilie showed herself as a skilled negotiator with a keen attention to detail and the bottom line. Emilie has been an active SDPRA member for her entire professional career. She continues as a leader in the organization. Emilie wears many hats, all of which contribute to South Dakota’s outstanding park and recreation offerings.
Bob’s leadership skills have proven themselves again and again. During his 40-year career in State government, Bob has served in three major roles within GFP’s Division of Parks and Recreation that really serve to highlight his leadership skills: Concessions Administrator, Assistant Director in charge of Planning and Development and Assistant Director in charge of Operations. All three carried a high-level of importance to the field of parks and recreation and presented unique challenges. Bob pioneered the position of concessions coordinator for the department. With no predecessor to look back to, Bob not only had to lead the way, he had to pave the way for an entire program. The groundwork Bob laid at the start still guides the way today, from procedures he put in place to relationships he cultivated. As the Assistant Director in charge of Planning and Development, he led capitol development in the state parks. In his foresight, he championed the need to recognize the importance of preventative maintenance – well before the aging infrastructure called attention to itself. The operations director (his current role) was a vastly different role for him, one his supervisor at the time said Bob still jumped at. Bob’s leadership skills came into play with his oversight of the division’s budget. With Bob’s guidance, the division’s budgetary stance shifted towards being self-supporting and not being overly reliant on general funds. Bob accepts new challenges whole-heartedly and seamlessly. Like any good leader, Bob has been a continuous source of support and encouragement to central office staff and field staff alike. Bob’s contributions to the field of parks and recreation are far-reaching, especially within the department. Bob has been at the center of nearly every development and operational issue in the South Dakota state parks over the past two decades. Whether it was concessionaires, park development, Emerald Ash Borer outbreak, special events, fire recovery or simply sharing his unique philosophical insights from growing up on a farm, Bob has touched most of us in many ways. He has been a catalyst in campground expansion over the years, with development being his real passion. In 1999-2001, Bob was tasked with coordinating the Title VI Missouri River Park Development (transfer of management of numerous parks along the Missouri River from the Corps of Engineers to Game, Fish and Parks). This was no easy task, as it involved countless details, both operationally and developmentally. These parks now amount to 1/3 of the total state park system.
Serving in the assistant director’s roles enabled Bob to be involved in almost all parks across the State of South Dakota and their local communities. In his earlier days, he played the role of grants coordinator, working with local governments to improve recreational opportunities. Bob especially enjoys working with the people we serve in these communities, mirroring the passion they have for their local parks in wanting them to be the best they could be. He developed partnerships and relationships with several groups to move parks and recreation forward.
Bob’s contributions will stand the test of time is making sure the division was reasonably self-sufficient, placing focus on creating revenue-generating services and facilities to help support the essential – but non-revenue making – services essential to public recreation users. By stressing the importance of preventative maintenance in the state parks, he also sparked other entities to examine their own facilities, starting a timely trend across the state. Bob’s contributions to parks and recreation in South Dakota are worthy of recognition and celebration.
