Robert F. Toalson attended the University of Kansas on an ROTC scholarship, graduating with a degree in political science in 1954 and was commissioned in the United States Marine Corps. He served as a platoon leader and an executive officer for a Marine Detachment Afloat from 1954 to 1957, following which he received a master’s degree in park and recreation administration from Indiana University in 1958. He became a National Recreation Association intern with the Philadelphia Recreation Commission under its legendary director, Robert Crawford. Over the course of his career, Toalson was president of four organizations: The American Park and Recreation Society, The National Recreation and Park Association (1991), The Illinois Park and Recreation Association and the American Academy of Park and Recreation Administration. In 1970, he became the general manager of the Champaign Park District and remained in this position until his retirement in 2001.

Parks & Recreation magazine: Tell us about one of the most memorable moments of your career related to NRPA?

Robert Toalson: My service on the board of trustees where I had the opportunity to work with top professionals and citizens. I’d also have to include serving as president of NRPA, my internship in Philadelphia with Bob Crawford, and, finally, serving as the chairman of the professional effort to raise funds for the new headquarters. I was really surprised at the amount of money professionals gave. I asked for $1,500 over a three-year period, and quite a number of them came through that way.

P&R: What do you feel is the greatest accomplishment of your career?

Toalson: I would say serving as director of parks and recreation in Oak Park, Illinois and Champaign, Illinois. We had successful programs in those two communities, and we won four Gold Medal Awards: one in Oak Park, which was the first year the Gold Medal was given, and three in Champaign. The other was seeing the development of the young professionals and watching their community and professional development. I am proud of the accomplishments in the communities I served; for example, the flower island program in Champaign (the flower island program was one in which businesses paid the park district for flower beds on their property and the price paid for a flower bed of the same size on public property. More than 250 flower beds were established). We now have 300 little flower beds on corners in front of stores and in front of schools.

P&R: What do you feel is the most impactful change that’s taken place in the parks and recreation field during the past 50 years?

Toalson: I think the funding of parks and recreation programs has certainly improved; however, they’re still low on the totem pole. If a community has to cut back on expenses, it’s usually in the parks and recreation area. But, I think it has improved considerably because people have come to recognize that a good parks and recreation program is important in the community. 

P&R: What’s the most important issue facing the field today?

Toalson: The lack of training programs for professionals is one that needs a lot of help. For example, directors of swimming pools get background on safety issues and so forth. Programs are needed to help the directors of all park programs. You might have a session on art in the parks, one on tree management and another on recreation programs for the community center. We’re lacking those right now.

P&R: What would you like to see from NRPA in the next 50 years?

Toalson: I’d like to see the association do more programs for professionals that would help them in their work, and I would like to see the national internship program instituted again. I thought it was an excellent program. It started out with Bob Crawford in Philadelphia, and NRPA approved the people to spend one year with him and then they’d go out on their own. My internship was in Philadelphia. I worked in every department in the program and had Crawford behind me. He helped me get a job and supported me. It doesn’t cost NRPA anything, as the community paid the salary, usually a beginning salary, to the interns for a year. We set up internships in Oak Park and Champaign, and I considered it a badge of honor that the programs were sponsored by NRPA. The interns did some shadowing, but for the most part, they worked in the departments over the year’s period. They spent time in the forestry and recreation program departments, and were responsible for some programs. An example, from my internship in Philadelphia, was my being put in charge of handling ticket sales for a baseball game between the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Phillies. 

P&R: Is there anything else you’d like to share with the members?

Toalson: One of the important things about being involved is the relationships you get with citizens and professionals...the people you work with and the friendships you form. We have a small group — the Petersons, Winslades, Tices and Chrismans — we get together once a year. Those friendships developed out of relationships at Congress and NRPA. 

Sonia Myrick is the Managing Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine.