Director of Parks and Recreation Pat Savage was honored on Oct. 4 with a retirement party by town employees for her almost 16 years of service.
Savage is credited with adding programs and staff to the department and with turning it into an enterprise fund.
“There was an assistant director and a secretary. So there were three of us,” she said of her arrival in February 2002.
Today, Parks and Recreation employs 200 high school students alone to help run the summer and after school programs.
When Savage arrived, former Town Manager Steve Ledoux wanted her to create a revenue-generating department.
“The first thing we ended up doing is adding an enrichment program working in collaboration with the schools,” she said. “We started with one school. Now we’re in all the elementary schools and have a program for the middle schools.”
She also worked with sports groups to get them to pay for field maintenance, and under her watch a successful crew program at Forge Pond was launched.
But her greatest accomplishment, she said, was the relationships she’s established with her staff and colleagues.
“I have had many successes but am most proud of the people I work with and all that they do for the town,” she stated. “I have been very fortunate to have people who care about their work and doing a good job not only in my department but other town departments, as well.”
Town Manager Jodi Ross praised her for maneuvering around a series of challenges, most notably the three or four physical moves she and her staff members made from one space to another over the years in an effort to find a home for the Parks and Recreation Department. Today the department occupies space at the Mill Works at 22 Town Farm Road under a five-year lease agreement with Mill Works Developer Christopher Yule.
“Even when the challenges facing your departments were greatest, your management ensured the community always had outlets for leisure, self-improvement, and camaraderie,” stated Ross in a letter to Savage. “…A goal in any career is to leave a place better than you found it. Clearly you have accomplished this and much more in Westford.”
When asked what her retirement plans were, Savage had a ready answer.
“My standard answer is ‘whatever I want to do,'” she said. “…As people say, everyday is a Saturday. So if I don’t do it today, I’ll do it tomorrow.”
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