Howard County Recreation and Parks (R&P) Director John Byrd and his staff are across the board kind, helpful, and knowledgeable. Their offices are rather intimidating, however. I approached the front desk of their ultramodern facility on Oakland Mills Road–all bright colors and expansive windows–and told a young man with a friendly smile that I had a 9:30 a.m. appointment to see Mr. Byrd. He placed an index finger gingerly on his headset and said, “Colleen Morgenthau, here to see John.” He said the director would be right with me and motioned for me to have a seat in a chair in the lobby behind me. I went to sit in one. As I did, I looked around. There were informational booklets and brochures on display, and I smiled as I remembered I had a copy of the department’s 2019 Activity Guide at home but had been procrastinating giving it a good once-over. It’s so extensive and thick, I wanted to allot a good few hours to look at it. The receptionist told me to make my way through a door next to him, and a buzzer went off to signal that I should open it. It was heavy, even severe looking. Once inside, I happened upon another solicitous staffer who guided me up a flight of stairs. Director Byrd met me at the top of the stairs. He smiled warmly, and immediately noticed how his green sweater set off his greenish-blue eyes. We made our way through his office door, and he nudged it shut. The latch engaged with a soft but resolute click.
“Wow–you’re like a mafia don!” I felt like I’d walked into a meeting in Don Corleone’s office with the heads of the Five Districts–er, Families.
“No, no. I’m just a Rec and Parks director,” John said, laughing. He asked me if I wanted something to drink, and I said I’d have some water. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he extended one elegantly toward a conference table that sat in front of his desk. I thanked him and we sat down to chat about all things Rec and Parks.
Relax, Man
If you thought the Department of Recreation and Parks was all about leisure, readers, well, you’d be wrong. It’s so much more. The department has its hand in a diverse array of the county’s functioning.
“I like to call it ‘Six Degrees of Rec and Parks,” John said. I think a little of the water I was sipping may have expelled forth when I laughed at this. Humor is so much about delivery, and John’s even tone makes his quips especially uproarious. I could tell John was happy I was so entertained by his grin in response to my stifled chuckle. He went on to apprise me of some of the unexpected services offered by the department he oversees.
John also likened R&P to another cultural icon of multi-tasking wonder then.
“We’re the Swiss Army Knife of county government,” he said with just a touch of mischief.
It takes part in childcare in the county in the form of before and after school programs, it takes part in environmental stewardship in the form of offsetting development as the county grows through tree planting, and it even has a hand in disaster response as the massive amount of land and facilities under its purview would be called on if the need arose for emergency shelters.
Then John looked off to his side unassumingly before saying: “It’s not every county recreation and parks department that has sharp-shooters on staff.” Again, he smiled, and my eyes darted from out at his second-story view to meet his. It turns out it’s nothing as wild as the scenarios that immediately began playing like movie credits in my mind–espionage, war games, mercenaries. Those fearsome folks are, it turns out, on the county’s payroll to help manage deer populations.
When I asked him where he sees Rec and Parks going in the next five years, John said he hoped it would oversee the development of more programs and places like the Meadowbrook Athletic Complex, badminton courts, pickleball courts, and cricket fields that people like Senator Guy Guzzone (D-13) have helped secure funding for. The communities who avail themselves of more traditional sports aren’t always happy about less attention going to those activities. But in his gentle way, John was firm in expressing that he, for one, supported of this development. R&P even over some a Quidditch tournament recently!
The department is set to offer more programs for seniors as the population of HoCo ages.
Nurturing Nature
John is passionate about the environment, and I felt more relief than I expected at how he embraces intelligent approaches to environmental stewardship. Some people do get it–and they live it!
When disaster response came up, he said plainly and confidently that climate change necessitated a hearty emergency management capability in HoCo. Not chance, not geologic randomness, not benign fluctuations, as deniers would have it: climate change. This is the kind of wise person we want in charge of our natural environment in here.
He takes heart in his department’s overseeing the protection of the natural environment, too, he told me, as that is a big part of establishing and maintaining a high standard of living.
John also offered that one of the challenges of the job he clearly loves, is meeting the demand for space for all the services R&P provides. So much of green living involves honoring our physical environment, after all.
“Any time Rec and Parks has an event, it’s mobbed,” local pediatrician and politico Dr. Zaneb Beams told me. This is another way in which John’s love of place finds real-world instantiation. She told me in a conversation that evening that she has friends from Prince George’s County and Carroll County who regularly come here to avail themselves of its superior R&P infrastructure.
“We try to sustain the integrity of the natural environment and the physical condition of our park system when the carrying capacity is exceeded most of the time,” he told me.
Another kind of nature–human nature–is on John’s mind these days as well.
“When you’ve been in the business as long as I have there aren’t many surprises, but you never know what might happen when human nature is involved,” he said with a playful electricity in his voice. The transition of the county government–a new County Executive and entirely new County Council–is under way as of November 6th. I nodded slowly in recognition of that, given that RoCo had its hand in pretty much every local Democratic candidate’s campaign in some way or another this past election cycle.
A Question of Quality
Rec and Parks even has a financial aid program. Through it, HoCo residents can pay reduced fees for some of the programs the department offers. You can see a full list of those here. There’s also a link there to apply for financial aid. Also, through that extensive catalog, John told me, he hopes his department can fulfill its mission. From writing, to yoga, to science classes, R&P has it covered!
“We really do want to simply offer people the highest quality of life we can,” he said nodding at me. He was referring to R&P’s aim “to responsibly manage natural resources; provide excellent parks, facilities, and recreation opportunities for the community; and ensure the highest quality of life for current and future generations,” as stated on it’s website. The duties, responsibilities, and obligations of the department are codified in the Title 19 of the Howard County Charter. But be forewarned: it’s not nearly as genial, interesting, or fun as John! You can read it here if you wish, however.
R&P’s reach really does extend all over the county as I drove home. On my short sojourn back to the Sheraton downtown where Robert and I are staying while we get settled into our new HoCo digs, I saw signage for or passed by the actual locations of some of the incredible facilities HoCo residents have at their disposal thanks to R&P including Blandair Park and the Robinson Nature Center.
Uncommon Core
All seven of the departments core values were on full display during my brief visit to Robinson Nature Center the next day. I decided I would go there to see how R&P rolls, as the kids say, because John had intimated that it might tickle my fancy given my love of hiking. And: goochie, goochie, goo, was he right! “Exceptional customer service; professionalism; accountability; knowledgeable, well-trained staff; teamwork; integrity; and trend-setting” are what R&P strives for, as listed on the department’s website linked above.
I paid $10.00 for one adult pass, and asked Jessie Standbridge, who was working behind the front desk of the visitor’s center for her name and email. She smiled and reached for a card to write down the information on. She urged me, without my asking, to make sure to go into the kids’ area, as it’s where the center’s live animals are. I thanked her and walked over to it. Loved it!
Next, I descended down a spiral path into the bowels of the edifice. As I did, the recordings of outdoor animal noises got louder as the lights got dimmer. I took in all the information about HoCo and Maryland wildlife and tips on being an informed hiker both there and everywhere, really.
Back at the entrance area, I remarked on the cool sitting area to my right. Jessie told me that all the furniture was made from wood sourced from the barn that was on the grounds before James and Anne Robinson donated funds to begin the center there.
When I asked if I could see one of their t-shirts in the store in an adult sized medium, another friendly person behind the counter trotted into the back to get me one. Alas, they only had adults smalls. The last time I fit into an adult small was…well, not recently, readers. But it was just as well, as my credit card’s magnetic strip is currently a shadow of its former self.
I’m not the only one who thinks highly of R&P’s staff, lest you think it’s typical Colleen Morgenthau fawning. Sylvia Ramsey, the Chair of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board does too.
“Working with John’s Division Directors has been an amazing experience due to the interpersonal relationships of staff, their competence and how they work together as a team. I truly admire them as individuals and as a collective group of stars,” she told me in an email. She said their indomitable spirit has instilled in her a great admiration for them.
Local preservationist and historian Ed Lilley also told me that R&P’s dedication to maintaining the integrity of the county’s rich legacy had made him a big fan of its work.
“The care and upkeep of the over 20 historic sites they are responsible for is a legacy not only for the residents of the county but also the many visitors. Preserving our history is a serious job and they do it well!” he told me in an email exchange.
Family Chatters
Back at R&P headquarters, I asked John if he had children.
“Yes, I have thousands,” he told me, meaning the number of HoCo young’uns who can–and on most days, do, thanks to its after school programs–potentially benefit from R&P’s programs. As any good fan of yukking it up knows, timing is another key element of humor. John offered this wry reply almost before I finished asking the question. Needless to say, it was pretty funny but also telling, like all good humor. John takes his job seriously, and much of it finds involves those services for children.
“My greatest fear is that a child will go unaccounted for,” John told me, putting his right hand lightly on his heart. It’s never happened, of course. And if it did, a vast contingency network would go into effect to find the child. I could see a world of tenderness in John’s eyes then, and it occurred to me that if a county’s pastimes are being so well-managed the rest, it stood to reason, was just as brilliantly accounted for. Perhaps that’s a little too easy, too glib, even. But I stand by it.
Echoing John’s gemstone simile, local Democratic politicial heroine Liz Bobo said when she was County Executive, the county opened Centennial Park.
“I was really proud of that. It’s really a gem,” she told me in a phone conversation the day after I met John in his office.
Colorado Coincidences
Regular readers of this website will recall that I studied rhetoric and composition at Colorado State University’s (CSU) Fort Collins campus. As it turns out, John began his career in the Colorado state parks program. He even lived on Fort Collins! He’s from Maryland originally, but he and his wife fell in love with FoCo. HoCo, FoCo–it’s all loco!
John got his B.A. in Outdoor Recreation and Resource Management at the University of Maryland College Park in 1979, his M.A. in Recreation and Park Management in 1988, and began working at Howard County Recreation and Parks in 1993.
“We planned to go back to Fort Collins, but in the meantime I found my calling,” John told me of the his first job in park management. He still goes back once a year for to Fort Collins for a fishing trip.
Here and Now In HoCo
As I put my key card back in mine and Robert’s hotel room door over at the Sheraton in downtown Columbia, it clicked. And I thought of the click of his office door back at John’s office. And then something clicked in my mind, too. It’s too cutesy, I know, but I swear it’s true. As a student of Zen philosophy, like RoCo’s new BFF, Liz Bobo, I am always looking for ways to be mindful. It’s why I’ve taken to group fitness classes, I think. The need to keep up with the routines forces me to be in the moment. John has a placid quality I found alluring, too. How did he do it! I thought it must be in part through his love of the natural environment. After all, the first way you become in the moment is to ground yourself in your physical environment.
I thought then that a whole drama that had happened with my lost voice memo of our interview, my off-the-charts anxiety about it, and John’s essentially bringing me back down to Earth by calmly, kindly offering his thoughts again in an email was all the universe showing me to–well, simply to calm down. As I placed both feet in the room in front of me, Robert, seated with a slouch in his spine and a remote in his hand watching The Bold and the Beautiful, looked at me slightly askance. I closed my eyes and gave John a namaste, the Sanskrit greeting of peace. I opened my eyes and smiled as Robert rolled his eyes playfully when I said, “See–life teaches you if you’ll only listen.” Well, John does, in this case!
Thanks for reading! Check back with us here at rocoinhoco.com every week as Robert, Colleen (and pup, Moses) get to know the many facets—one each week–of this prismatic place called Howard County. We want to take you along with us, so follow us on Twitter at @rocoinhoco, join our Facebook group, and follow us on Instagram at @rocoinhoco.