NEW Yakima names new Parks and Recreation manager

YAKIMA -- The city of Yakima reached to Indiana in choosing a new head for its Parks and Recreation Department.
Ken Wilkinson, currently the director of Parks and Recreation for the city of New Haven, Ind., a suburb of Fort Wayne, has been named the city’s new recreation manager.
He replaces Denise Nichols who retired earlier this summer after 12 years as manager. Wilkinson is expected to start the first week of October.
Wilkinson will oversee a division with 30 employees and a budget of just over $4.2 million. The department is responsible for more than 300 acres of parks in the city. It also oversees a wide variety of recreation and sports activities, including the Harman Senior Center, Franklin and Lions pools, Fisher Park Golf Course, and the Gateway Sports Complex.
Since 1996, Wilkinson has been the chief administrator of a parks district that serves New Haven, Adams Township, portions of Jefferson Township and St. Joseph Township, and parts of southeast and northeast Fort Wayne.  The district provides a full array of programs and services ranging from aquatics to sports leagues, senior citizen activities to art classes.
Wilkinson has a business administration degree from Taylor University in Upland, Ind., and a masters degree in recreation from Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.
He also owned and operated a construction company for several years and worked for his father's lawn and landscaping business.

-- Yakima Herald-Republic staff