State recreation awards honor multiple Waterbury recipients
November 13, 2025 | By Lisa ScagliottiThe Vermont Recreation & Parks Association recently announced its annual awards and winners included multiple recipients from Waterbury.
Frank Spaulding receives the Professional Award. Photo courtesy of the Vermont Recreation and Parks Association
At the group’s yearly conference held at Killington Resort, Waterbury residents received all three of the conference’s Theresa S. Brungardt Awards this year. These are the highest honors bestowed by the Vermont Recreation and Parks Association. They were created in 1975 to honor Vermont recreation pioneer Theresa S. Brungardt, who was director of the Vermont State Board of Recreation from 1947 until her retirement in 1964.
Brungardt traveled the state in her tenure to help communities establish and grow recreation programs. Brungardt was nationally recognized for her expertise and, in 1952, was elected the first female president of the American Recreation Society. In 1977, she was inducted into the National Recreation and Parks Association Hall of Fame.
The Vermont association has three awards in her honor: the Professional Award, the Friend Award, and the Organization/Agency Award.
The Professional Award goes to a full-time leader, supervisor, administrator, manager, educator, planner, researcher, designer, or consultant who has made outstanding contributions to the recreation and/or park field. The recipient must have at least 10 years' professional experience, three in Vermont, and has to have contributed to the field over a period of time and not just a single occurrence.
Tami Bass was honored for her volunteer work with the Waterbury Skatepark Coalition. Photo courtesy of the Vermont Recreation and Parks Association
The award was presented to Waterbury resident Frank Spaulding, who works as Parks Project Manager with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Spaulding also has volunteered on the Waterbury town Recreation Committee for many years and serves as its chair.
The Friend Award goes to a board member, community or state leader, public official, or volunteer who has made outstanding contributions to the recreation and/or park field. The recipient must have demonstrated a continuing interest in some phase of recreation and/or park service and exhibited strong leadership in some project or area of service over a time period of at least two years.
This award was presented to Waterbury resident Tami Bass, a leader in organizing the local grassroots volunteer Waterbury Skatepark Coalition since its inception and through its recent completion of the Waterbury Skatepark project at Hope Davey Memorial Park in Waterbury Center.
The Organization/Agency Award is intended to recognize a commercial, professional, private, governmental, or nonprofit organization or agency that has made outstanding contributions to the recreation and/or park field. The contributions may be for a program that has made a unique impact on its participants, a distinctive indoor or outdoor facility notable for its architectural character or functional use, an outstanding interpretation of recreation and parks, or a similar achievement.
Waterbury Youth Soccer representatives Dustin Spence, Eleanor Riggs and Mike Griffith accepted the Organization Award. Photo courtesy of the Vermont Recreation and Parks Association
This year’s Organization Award was presented to Waterbury Youth Soccer, a volunteer-run community recreation league established 30 years ago. It serves youth soccer players from Waterbury and surrounding communities from kindergarten through sixth grade, offering youngsters a chance to learn to play soccer each fall. Engaging adult volunteers and with fundraising supporting scholarships, the program remains affordable and inclusive.
Other awards given at the conference were the group’s Unsung Hero Award to Emily White with the Vermont State Parks, the Young Professional Award to Miruna Muresan with the City of Winooski, and the Groton Nature Center was named Facility of Merit.
The Vermont Recreation and Parks Association is a nonprofit organization comprised of some 400 individuals working in parks and recreation positions around Vermont at the state and municipal level, with nonprofit recreation organizations, and with private businesses engaged in recreation. Its mission is to promote, develop and improve recreation and park resources in Vermont. It shares resources and offers training to its members.
Find more information, including a detailed slide and video presentations about Theresa S. Brungardt, on the VRPA website here.