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After only a five-year campaign as program manager for Elgin’s Parks and Recreation Department, earning over $564,000 in grant funds, Elizabeth Marzec took home the title of Parks Professional of the Year for the central region of Texas. The Texas Recreation and Parks Society recognizes a professional every year who has made an outstanding contribution to their department, community and the profession.
The honor is typically awarded to workers who have been in the profession for several decades and is comparable to a lifetime achievement award in this particular workspace, according to Marzec. The competing central region includes bigger cities like Austin, Pflugerville, Round Rock and Georgetown, stretching as far as Brenham, New Braunfels, Waco and Kerrville.
“I am really proud of all of the hard work that went into receiving this award,” said Marzec. “I love this job. I can impact so many different people in a positive way.”
The honoree believes part of the reason she won is because of how much she has accomplished as the department’s sole manager.
Other, larger cities often have several full-time employees within the department.
Alongside the substantial amount of funding the manager has brought to Elgin, Marzec helped replace three aging playgrounds and construct a new one, open the Recreation Center for use seven days a week, introduce 20 new classes, triple participation numbers and increase free programming for families, elderly and youth.
Marzec was also responsible for creating the Parks and Recreation’s open space masterplan, a defining document that the city hasn’t had in more than a decade. She worked with the parks advisory board for 18 months, gathering community input, and drafted the 370-page document herself.
The plan includes future park, staffing and programming improvements and was approved by the Texas Parks and Wildlife department, making Elgin eligible for more grants through them.
The program manager has always been a busy worker, according to her, and fully embraced her new position after leaving her tech-based job in Austin.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be bored moving from Austin to here. I really love this job, and I don’t know if I would’ve figured that out if I had stayed in Austin,” added Marzec.
Additionally, Marzec teaches classes at the Texas Parks and Recreation Society meetings and is the recreation and programming special events chairperson for the state of Texas.
Elgin’s Parks and Recreation Department shows no signs of slowing down, looking to add two more full-time positions by spring to help Marzec continue her improvements.
This award comes hand-in-hand with another accomplishment of the department’s, having just been chosen as one of three cities countrywide to receive a grant from the National Recreation and Park Association.
The Parks for Pollinators BioBlitz is a campaign to raise awareness and community involvement in the pollinator crisis through local parks and likeminded organizations.
Marzec’s team observed and catalogued different species of flora and fauna in the center’s pollinator garden using the iNaturalist app to bring home the additional funding.
Over 75% of the world’s flowering plants and 35% of the world’s crops rely on pollinators, and species have become endangered or even gone extinct due to the loss of natural food supplies and habitat.
Marzec is doing her part to help fight this, just one of the many things she does for Elgin and its greenery.
