Huff, Brown leave park board

After more than 30 years of serving the city, Creston Parks and Recreation Director Mark Huff is retiring.

Huff first began in city career in 1988, working as a lifeguard at Creston’s pool during his summer break from college. With a short stint away from city work that winter, Huff was back the following summer, sticking with the city for the rest of his career.

“I went part time in the winter, and then in the process, the assistant director left and I applied for that job, and that’s how it happened,” Huff said. Though he wasn’t sure the exact year he became director, he said it was “around the ‘93, ‘94 timeframe.”

Huff explained that one of the first projects he worked on as director was getting the current pool built. However, his favorite time spent as director revolved around youth activities.

“Youth soccer... We did a stint with flag football and then we combined the two in the morning,” Huff said. “Just flipped the field, got it ready for one sport and then played the other.”

With today marking his final day in the workforce, Huff said he’s excited to spend more time with family and on projects.

“[I’ll be] spending more time with my girls and my grandkids,” Huff said. “I’ve got a lot of home projects, a lot of things I need to do around the house because I’ve been putting them off for years.”

Huff won’t be the only parks and rec member with more time on his hands. Board member Jane Brown is stepping down after 32 years on the board. Both of their terms were historic in length, Huff being Creston’s third longest serving city employee at 33 years and Brown being Creston’s longest serving board member at 32 years.

“There’s nobody, Jane, that’s ever been a board member as long as you in the city of Creston, so you’ve served the town well and deserve a lot of recognition for that,” board member John Kawa said. “Mark, that I know of, is the third longest employee of the city. It’s been 32 years and 33 years. It’s unbelievable.”

Kawa shared what the board had accomplished in the last 20 years.

“Twenty years ago was the first meeting of the Lake Restoration of McKinley Park at shelter house number five. We were all there, and a whole different committee of people were there that night,” Kawa said. “If you can remember, in those days, the park was looking bad. We all knew we had to do something, so that’s what started all this.”

Along with fixing bathrooms, the bandshell and playground equipment, Kawa said taking care of McKinley Lake was always on their minds.

“From day one, our ultimate goal was dredging that lake, and that’s where we’re at now all these years later, and you two were a big part of it,” Kawa said. “You guys have done a lot. We couldn’t have done it without you, I promise you that. You’ll both be missed.”

Huff and Brown were both presented Tuesday with plaques thanking them for their years of service to the city.

Newly elected, Katie Turner will replace Brown on the board. Creston is still looking to hire a new director.