[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 21809-21810]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         HONORING LARRY HIBDON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 6, 2001

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Larry 
Hibdon for his years of dedicated service to the community. After 29 
years with the City of Madera's Parks Department, Mr. Hibdon retired 
last year.
  In 1971, Larry began his recreation and community services career as 
a Recreation Playground Leader. From there, he earned his degree in 
Recreation from Fresno State University and continued to progress his 
career with the City of Madera. He spent some time as their Community 
Services Supervisor and finally became the Director of Parks and 
Community Services, a position he has held for 13 years.
  Larry Hibdon's guiding principal has always been that a Parks and 
Recreation Department is designed to serve the people. Under Larry's 
direction and guidance the Parks and Community Services Department has 
reached new heights. The following are some major milestones for this 
department under Larry's direction: starting the Disabled Adult 
Program, creating the Summer Youth Enrichment School, creating the 
Christmas Basket Program, creating the 50 acre Lion's Town & Country 
Regional Park, groundbreaking for Madera's first Senior Center, 
inception of the Madera County Arts Council, creating and opening the 
Madera Municipal Golf Course, creating the 37 acre Millview Sports 
Complex, first bike lanes in Madera, creating the Madera Beautification 
Committee, the Gateway Tree Project implementation, grand opening of 
the Pan-American Community Center, and the repair of the Route Bus 
system in Madera.

[[Page 21810]]

  This list only begins to highlight the vision that Larry has had for 
Madera. He has continually been dedicated to getting more parks, 
recreation and leisure activities for all Maderans. In 1999 Mr. Hibdon 
received the California Parks and Recreation Society District VIII 
Howard B. Holman Award. The award is the highest honor that can be 
bestowed in the profession of Parks and Community Services by the 
profession in the State of California.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Larry Hibdon for his active and 
distinguished community involvement. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
wishing Larry Hibdon many more years of good health and happiness.

                          ____________________