Culture and Recreation, Mayor and Council, Rockville Reports

Mayor and Council Recognize Recreation and Parks as National Gold Medal Finalist

Rockville’s Mayor and Council formally recognized the Department of Recreation and Parks for being named a 2025 National Gold Medal finalist for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management.

Rockville was selected as a finalist in the population category of 30,001-75,000, placing the department among four agencies nationwide recognized in that category.

The National Gold Medal Award honors public recreation and parks agencies and state park systems throughout the United States, as well as armed forces recreation programs worldwide. The award recognizes excellence in long-range planning, resource management and innovative approaches to delivering recreation and park services while maintaining fiscally sound business practices.

The program is governed and administered by the American Academy of Parks and Recreation in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association.

Each completed application was independently reviewed by a panel of five recreation and parks professionals selected by the academy based on management experience, agency size and type, geographic location and diversity. From that pool, four agencies in each population category are selected as finalists, along with finalists representing armed forces recreation programs and state park systems.

Finalists were announced in late April, and finalist and Grand Plaque awards were presented at the 2025 NRPA Annual Park and Recreation Conference in Orlando, Florida.

During the Mayor and Council meeting, Roslyn Johnson, director of the City of Annapolis Department of Recreation and Parks and a board member of the American Academy of Parks and Recreation, presented the finalist plaque to the city manager, Mayor and Council, and members of the Recreation and Parks team.

“There are 10,000 recreation and parks departments in the country,” Johnson said as she presented the award plaque. “Rockville is in .04%, meaning there are only four organizations that received a finalist award. So that’s extremely special.”

To see the recognition, visit rockvillemd.gov/agendacenter and select “Video” next to the Mayor and Council’s Jan. 5 meeting listing.