Parks and Rec Director Retiring, Interim Director Named
Mike Miller is retiring from his post as the director of the City of Dalton’s Parks and Recreation Department at the end of the year, and on Tuesday the city’s Recreation Commission voted on a new interim director to succeed him. Greg Walker, who currently serves as the department’s superintendent of recreation, will take over as interim director after Miller retires on December 31st.
Mike Miller has worked for the Parks and Recreation Department for nearly 37 years, joining the agency in January 1984 after his graduation with a recreation degree from Georgia Southern. He was promoted to the position of director in 2017.
“This is what I’ve been blessed to do,” said Miller of his career with the department. “You know, I graduated with 50 or 60 other individuals with recreation degrees, and I was one of the very few who was able to get a job in recreation and I landed here in Dalton and it was one of the departments we studied about. Doing it the ‘Dalton Way’ was unique and special.”
“We’re just grateful,” Recreation Commission chairman Zab Mendez said of Miller’s service to Dalton. “He’s a great leader and a great advocate for DPRD and the community as a whole and he’s going to be highly missed and we wish him well. He leaves big shoes to fill.”
“Mike is a great individual and he has done a really good job for the city,” said City Councilman Derek Waugh who is the liaison to the Recreation Commission. “He has poured his life into the Dalton Parks and Recreation Department.”
Greg Walker has worked for the DRPD since 2016, but he has been working for public parks and recreation departments for more than 31 years with 26 years in a director’s role. Most recently, he was the director of Lumpkin County’s Parks and Recreation Department from 2012 until coming to Dalton.
“Dalton is such an exciting city as far as the potential and I think this department has a lot of potential,” Walker said. “I tell people all the time that if you’ve only worked here in Dalton, you may not realize what it’s like to work somewhere else that isn’t as fortunate as we are here with the resources at the DPRD.”
Walker also said that he’s excited about the near future at DPRD. “We just passed a SPLOST and we’re getting ready to build new some new soccer fields, and that’s a huge need,” he said. “This community supports soccer like nowhere else… Dalton just takes it to a whole other level.”
“I think that in moving forward, DPRD is one of the areas that we can really capitalize on to attract more people to live in Dalton and I think that we will continue to be creative with all the ways it can affect and enhance the community,” said Waugh. “I think a lot of exciting things are ahead.”
