Apparently it was because 40 years later, he’s still on a board he’s led as president since 1975.
On Feb. 26, he’ll be recognized for his service with the 2012 Citizen of the Year award from the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association.
Wannemacher said the award is very humbling.
“I’ll accept it with the understanding that it not only belongs to me but to all employees of the park district because they all really deserve it,” he said.
The Miami County Park District today is vastly different from the one Wannemacher joined in January 1973.
The district had five acres of donated land and no budget. Today, it oversees more than 2,100 acres and has a yearly budget of $2.3 million.
Donors and Miami County taxpayers who have supported district levies since 1974, Wannemacher said, have made today’s active and passive parks possible.
The three-member park board believes in a strong staff, he said.
“I think the most important thing I’ve ever done for the park district is, along with the other board members, we’ve hired the right people,” Wannemacher said. “We hire them and let them do their job. Obviously they’ve done a fantastic job.”
The district’s first director, the late Scott Houston, set a tone as far as quality, he said.
A good example of continuing quality is the district’s educational programs, which reach up to 4,000 students each year, he said. There’s also the uniqueness of several park properties such as the Hobart Urban Nature Preserve located in the middle of Troy.
Today more than ever the district is partnering with other organizations to make things happen, Wannemacher said. Among examples is the county bike trail built, with park district financial support, along the Great Miami River over the past decade.
He said he had no intention of staying around so long.
“It became a passion after awhile … and then I saw some of the accomplishments of the park district. It is hard to walk away,” he said.
At age 77, Wannemacher said his current board term, which ends in 2015, likely will be his last. A native of Celina he graduated from the University of Dayton and the Salmon P. Chase College of Law in Cincinnati. He lives in Concord Twp. with his wife, Sally, and has three children and five grandchildren.
While he’d like to see more people using the parks and their programs, Wannemacher said he’s enjoyed his long association with them. “It has been fun,” he said.
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