The Garland Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts Department recently won three awards at the Texas Recreation and Park Society (TRAPS) North Region Conference. The department was honored for excellence in programming and recreation facility design excellence. In addition, a Garland volunteer was named Advocate of the Year, an award that recognizes a group or individual who has made a significant contribution to parks and recreation. David Parrish discovered his enthusiasm for nature at a young age, earning the Boy Scouts of America’s Eagle Badge in 1971. He continued to volunteer with the scouts throughout his college years. Then he entered a long career with the Environmental Protection Agency as an Environmental Scientists & Information Specialist. In 2001, raising a son with special needs with his wife, Sharon, he got back into Scouting full time. His son earned his Eagle in 2005 before passing away in 2010.
The couple remained active in the community, mentoring students at Williams Elementary and Sellers Middle School through Garland ISD’s Youth Achievement Foundation; leading fundraising efforts for the Achievement Center of Texas (ACT), a special needs daycare in Garland and the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation; and volunteering with the North Texas Food Bank and Good Sam’s helping to distribute food from a Mobile Food Truck at Spring Creek Community Church. In 2012, they were recognized by ACT with the “Champions Who Care Award.” The same year they were recognized at the DFW Federal Executive Board’s Service Excellence Luncheon with the “Community Service Award.” Parrish is also a graduate of the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Garland program.
His volunteer efforts ramped up when he retired in 2015. Parrish channeled his early Scouting days and career in environmental science and got back to nature, earning his Master Naturalist Certificate in 2015. He continues to work with Garland ISD, building school gardens on five different school campuses and volunteering to teach classes on the benefits of nature, often with a variety of flora and fauna in tow. But most days, you will find David hiking the many miles of nature trails crisscrossing the nearly 116 acres of the Spring Creek Forest Preserve.
The Spring Creek Preserve is maintained and managed by the city of Garland Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts Department as part of an agreement with Dallas County. This piece of North Texas history exists within just a few hundred yards of apartments, big box stores and a convention center. A majority of its bottom land hardwood forest has remained untouched for generations, with Chinquapin, Bur and Shumard oaks standing more than 100 feet tall with estimated ages between 100 to 300 years.
The guardian watching over this natural wonder is the Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest, a nonprofit formed in 1987 with a mission to protect the past to enrich the future. A solely volunteer-based organization, they work hand-in-hand with the city to manage Spring Creek Preserve as well as coordinate and run monthly volunteer workdays, educational walking tours and several other events to promote, educate and preserve Spring Creek for future generations. Parrish has been at the society’s helm for the past eight years.
He has logged more than 1,368 volunteer hours through Texas Master Naturalist, including 168 hours of advanced training. But the number of “unofficial” hours he has logged over the years giving back to the preserve is unmeasurable. He gives more than just time, he gives of his knowledge, passion, dedication and love that can’t be measured in hours, but in the legacy that he is creating with every Eagle project, volunteer day and educational walk he coordinates or leads. Parrish has served on the Garland Parks & Recreation Board since 2016 and is currently the chair for the board.
Information and photo provided by city of Garland.