In the public eye: Raymond’s Parks Director enjoys community connections

Editor’s note: This is another in an ongoing series of Windham and Raymond town employee profiles.

By Ed Pierce

Joe Crocker may be the first person to serve as Raymond Parks and Recreation Director, but he welcomes the opportunity to grow the department into one of the finest in all of Maine.

Joe Crocker is nearing his third anniversary of being appointed
as the first director of the Town of Raymond's Parks and
Recreation Department. During that time, the department
has grown and expanded to meet the town's needs and
now offers many programs and opportunities for residents.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

Crocker was appointed as Raymond Parks and Recreation Director almost three years ago and has embraced the challenge of balancing the growth of what the department can offer with what the town’s needs are.

“The Town of Raymond has seen growth in families moving to the area and a lot of them have come from towns or cities that have had long established Parks and Recreation Departments,” Crocker said. “Building these programs takes time and the Town of Raymond is coming up in only its third year of having its own department.”

The areas of focus for Crocker as Parks and Recreation Director are program and event coordination, assisting with maintenance and project planning for Raymond parks, and the day-to-day operations of Tassel Top Park.

Crocker says the best part of his job though is connecting with the community.

“There are so many passionate volunteers that help out with our programs and make a big difference in coaching or instructing our youth participants,” he said. “Occasionally, I get to coach or referee in these programs and that brings me joy because that is how I got my start in this career.”

Originally from Saco, Crocker attended high school at Thornton Academy and then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from St. Joseph’s College of Maine. He later earned an MBA in sports and recreation management from New England College.

He says Raymond’s small-town charm led to him applying for job with the town.

“I have been working in municipal Parks and Recreation agencies since I was 18 years old. I have mostly worked for large municipalities,” Crocker said. “I was interested in working for the Town of Raymond because of the small-town feel. I live really close to the Raymond town line and I appreciated how nice they kept the Route 302 business landscape. I also used Tassel Top Park as a patron. It was also a rare opportunity to build a Parks and Recreation Department from the ground up. Not many people can say they started a brand-new department.”

He says that people would be amazed if they knew how much work goes into running a parks and recreation department.

“A lot of people see the fun side of the programs. That is definitely the goal,” Crocker said. “There is a lot of work that goes into the planning portion of these programs and offerings such as making sure we have a program budget, collecting registrations, purchasing equipment, finding volunteers or instructors, and making sure that everything is communicated to the public. There are multiple levels of coordination that go into recreation programming.”

According to Crocker, his most memorable moment of working for the Town of Raymond so far was when Barry Alden, Facility Maintenance Manager at Tassel Top Park, won “Outstanding Parks Professional of the Year Award” from the Mine Recreation and Parks and Association last spring.

“It was great to honor someone that has worked for the town for so long and has made a significant impact in so many people’s lives when they come in to enjoy the park,” he said.

Although his work has unique hours as most recreation activities are not during normal work hours, Crocker still makes time to spend with his family while leading a growing parks department.

“What is nice is my family can attend events and my daughter is now getting old enough to participate in some programs,” he said. “In this position, you have to wear a lot of different hats. I can go from working in the office one day to coaching soccer to running a movie night with the Raymond PTO. I never know for certain what each day will bring.”

He said something he’s learned through his work is that residents of the Town of Raymond are very passionate about having recreational opportunities for the community.

“So much so that they provided these programs through volunteer committees in the past,” Crocker said. “If I can help to provide these opportunities it makes a big difference to the people who used to run the programs. Now they can enjoy attending these events while I run the administrative duties.” <