Dave Clark was Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Albany, Oregon (pop. 40,000) for 27 years. Clark joined the city as recreation supervisor in September 1974 and was promoted to parks and recreation director in July 1975. He was responsible for managing a department with an annual budget of 3.8 million, 20 full time employees and 200 part-time and contractual employees. Facilities included 29 parks and 600 acres of parkland, senior center, recreation building, skatepark and outdoor amphitheater. 

 

Dave's mission was "to live a life of integrity and commitment to my family, profession, friends and faith. I will balance the role areas of my life, center my life on unchanging principles, keep my body healthy and free from harmful substances, and actively seek knowledge and wisdom through continuous education."

 

During his tenure, more than half of the city's 29 park properties, including the Senior Center, were acquired, developed or significantly improved. Those include Bowman Park, the Cox Creek bike path, Deerfield Park, Gibson Hill Park, Grand Prairie Park, Periwinkle Park and bike path, Takena Landing Park, Teloh Calapooia Park, Simpson Park, Timber-Linn Park and the Albany Skatepark.

 

In 1983, Dave started the River Rhythms concert series. Now the event is the largest free summer concert series in the Pacific Northwest. It has showcased such performers as Mary Chapin Carpenter and the Dixie Chicks. The companion "Mondays at Monteith" concert series also was started under Dave, and he oversaw the acquisition of the Children's Performing Arts Series from Linn-Benton Community College.

 

In the summer of 2000, Dave and his staff combined efforts with the Albany Visitors Association to create the Northwest Art & Air Festival. The main concert of the festival takes place in the open-air Oregon Amphitheater with space for 12,000, a venue Dave said was necessary to draw big-name performers to Albany.

 

From 1999-2001, Dave chaired Albany's Promise. Members strove to nurture, mentor and otherwise help Albany-area young people. Under Dave's guidance, park maintenance crews transformed Waverly Park into a show piece, and he arranged to landscape the islands in the Pacific Boulevard/Ninth Avenue Couplet into a floral oasis.

From 1983 –85 he was a part-time instructor at Linn Benton Community College in Albany. Dave grew up in Farmington, Utah and worked on his family’s farm throughout his childhood. His first job in the park and recreation profession was as a Recreational Therapist for the Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was responsible for recreation programming for emotionally disturbed children in a residential treatment program.

For nine years (1991-2000) Dave represented the Pacific Northwest as a member of the NRPA Board of Trustees. He has been recognized as one of the leaders of the Benefits Movement and served as Chair of the NRPA Benefits Task Force for six years. Dave was appointed Chair of the NRPA National Forum in 1995-96 and served on the following NRPA Trustee Committees: Professional Development, Nominating, Finance, Awards, Public Awareness, Code of Ethics, Arts and Humanities, and Annual Fund. He was elected President of the American Park and Recreation Society in 1995, served as Chair of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council in 1988 and as President of the Oregon Recreation and Park Association in 1983.

Dave earned his B.S. degree in Recreational Therapy from the University of Utah in 1973. He then moved to Oregon. One year later (1974) he earned a M.S. degree in Recreation and Park Management from the University of Oregon. After 15 years on the job, Dave went back to school and earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Lewis and Clark College in 1991.

Dave was honored with several awards during his career which include the Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of Utah in 1998; Distinguished Fellow Award from the American Park and Recreation Society in 1998; Special Citation Award (Contributions to the Benefits Movement) from the Oregon Recreation and Park Association in 1996; NRPA Dottie Mullens Arts and Humanities Award in 1992; Outstanding Graduate Award from Lewis and Clark College in 1991; Professional Award from the Pacific NW Regional Council in 1991; Professional Honor Award from ORPA in 1987; ORPA young Professional Award in 1978; Junior First Citizen Award from the Albany Chamber of Commerce in 1978, and Dedicated Leadership Award from Albany’s Promise in 2001.  In 2000, he received the Oregon Recreation and Parks Association Distinguished Service Award. In 2002, the Oregon Recreation and Parks Association Professional Honor Award was renamed in Dave's honor. 

Dave was an NRPA member and certified Park and Recreation Professional since 1976. He has been an active member of the Academy for Park and Recreation Administration since 1993. Dave served on the Academy Board of Directors for three years (1997-2000), including being Secretary of the Board. He was elected President, but his untimely death in 2002 prevented him from assuming this position..

Dave was president of the American Park and Recreation Society in 1995-96 and president of the Oregon Recreation Park Association in 1983-84. He was named Albany Junior First Citizen in 1978 and picked outstanding graduate in the master's public administration program at Lewis and Clark College in 1991. He was a member of the National Recreation and Parks Association Board of Trustees from1991 to 2000.

 

Dave was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all his life. He served for almost five years as bishop of an Albany congregation, working an average of 30 hours or more a week for the church as a lay leader. He had many other church responsibilities and was known for his work with youth. 

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