The Parks and Recreation Department won a gold medal for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management at the 2015 National Recreation and Parks Association conference in Las Vegas Sept. 15. Plano won in Class II among three other cities with population between 150,001 and 400,000. The other cities in the same category were City of Peoria, Arizona; Des Moines, Iowa; and Fox Valley, Illinois. “I am especially proud of our employees and volunteers who demonstrate their commitment to excellence in public service every day,” said Amy Fortenberry, Plano Parks and Recreation department director, in a press release. Plano has previous won the NRPA Gold Medal for excellence in long-term planning, managing resources and identifying community needs in three separate categories in 1979, 1987, 1997, according to NRPA’s list of winners from 1966 to 2013.