County recreation director gets award
Greene County Recreation Director Jake Blaker recently received an excellence in recreation and parks award from the Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society last month.
Blaker accepted the award at the March 24 during the PRPS State Conference in Lancaster.
The county’s Department of Recreation was honored for the 2014 series of Flashlight Drags drag-racing events held at the Greene County Airport in Waynesburg. The events provide a safe, legal alternative to street racing and help boost county tourism and the local economy.
“The drag races bring people from all over the region into the county,” Blaker said. “We have had people from as far as Washington, D.C., participate in the races. With support from the Greene County Commissioners, our vendors, and personnel from the county prison, EMS, Waynesburg VFD and the sheriff’s department, we are able to continue these highly entertaining events.”
Flashlight Drags consists of a 1/8-mile race along the airport runway, and drivers can race as many times as they want and against any of the other racers. The format is heads-up, meaning that both vehicles leave the starting line at the same time. The name of the event refers to the early days of drag racing, when a flashlight was used to signal the start.
The Department of Recreation has been recognized with nine excellence in recreation and parks awards since 2006. According to the PRPS, award recipients must demonstrate outstanding quality, innovation, range and value of appeal, community support, and efficient use of funding, human and material resources in the development, delivery and use of programs, special events, publications and promotions.
“We are extremely appreciative of the work that the recreation department does under the supervision of Jake Blaker,” said Chuck Morris, chairman of the Greene County Board of Commissioners. “Jake organizes unique events, and his dedication to the youth of the county has been and will continue to be exemplary.”