Department of Parks & Recreation staff members were recently recognized for excellence at a Forsyth County Board of Commissioners meeting on Thursday, Nov. 20.

Three Parks & Recreation staff members received awards from the Georgia Recreation of Parks Association (GRPA) for 2025 at both the District 7 level and State of Georgia level.

• Director of Parks & Recreation Kirk Franz won the State Administration Leadership Network Distinguished Professional Award and the District 7 Roy A. Hammond Leadership Award.
• Specialty Recreation Manager Whitman Morgan won the State Recreation Network Distinguished Professional Award and the GRPA District 7 Programmer of the Year Award.
• Business Operations Manager Lacy Richards won the GRPA District 7 Distinguished Professional Administrator Award.

“Whitman and Lacy are just a small example of what our [Parks & Recreation] staff does every day,” Franz said. “It’s certainly nice to be recognized not only by our own staff but also by our colleagues around the state and in District 7. It’s an honor.”

Forsyth County Parks & Recreation manages and maintains approximately 3,000 acres of park land and 30 parks, from active and passive parks to campgrounds, lake parks and preserves.

“Our parks system is what it is because of [the Board of Commissioners’] support and because of the community support,” Franz said. “If you go outside Forsyth County, you don’t see what we have here. It’s very rare.”