COLUMBUS, OH -- Lake Milton State Park in Mahoning County and Quail Hollow State Park in Stark County tied for the 2001 Ohio State Parks' Volunteer Park-of-the-Year Award. This year marked the first time in the 10-year history of the competition that multiple parks tied for the honor, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
In addition to the winners, honorable mention honors went to Harrison Lake State Park in Fulton County, Maumee Bay State Park in Lucas County and Beaver Creek State Park in Columbiana County. Beaver Creek entered the competition for the first time this year.
The Volunteer Park-of-the-Year Award is based on the quality of a park's volunteer program. It recognizes not only the number of volunteers serving a park, but also the variety of programs and special events offered by those volunteers. It also considers the quality of volunteer training programs and the level of local community participation in day-to-day operations at the park. Park managers, staff or volunteers themselves can nominate a park for the award.
Both Lake Milton and Quail Hollow state parks are integral parts of their communities. Lake Milton, located near Youngstown, is a large recreational lake with an urban audience. While Quail Hollow, near Hartville, is centered around a historic home and gardens where volunteers work to assist staff with maintenance, tours and fundraising. Each park has several hundred volunteers.
Both of these parks have done an excellent job of building strong ties with their local communities, said Dan West, Ohio State Parks chief. It shows in the large numbers of volunteers who contribute so much to their operations and special events.
Ohio State Parks set new records for volunteerism in 2001 when nearly 6,000 volunteers contributed 320,000 hours of public service. People of all ages and interests, from teens to senior citizens, serve as Ohio State Parks volunteers. They assist staff in building and maintaining hiking and horsemen's trails; greeting campers; working with naturalists on programs and special events; assisting at golf courses; planting flowers and helping with other beautification projects.
There are 74 Ohio State Parks encompassing more than 204,000 acres and featuring 57 family campgrounds, 36 visitor and nature centers, eight resort lodges and six golf courses.
For more information on volunteer opportunities in Ohio State Parks, contact your local state park or visit the ODNR web site at Ohiodnr.com .