"Parks are for Everyone." That expression sums up board member Frank S. Vajda's vision for the Park Authority. Appointed in May 2001 as the Mason District representative, Vajda has been active in many volunteer and community activities since his retirement from a 28-year career in the United States Air Force. In 2007 Vadja was asked to serve as Vice Chairman.

One of Vajda's goals for the Park Authority is to determine the definitive needs of its citizens. "As a practical matter, there is no one park that can meet everyone's needs," he said. "But we can come close to finding something for everyone when we look at the park system as a whole. And 'everyone' has to include people of all ages - from those who like sports and hiking to those who enjoy more passive activities, such as concerts."

But Vajda sees building up volunteerism at the parks as his personal mission on the board. "Take my vision of 'Parks are for Everyone' and turn it around to 'Everyone for the Parks,'" he said. "Individual citizens can help, but so can corporate America. It also helps to have the political leadership on our side. The success of the Park Authority can be attributed in part to the very positive relationship between the Board of Supervisors, the County Executive and the Park Authority Board."

Vajda is a member and past president of the Court of Camelot Civic Association, where he began and continues to run the annual holiday fund drive in support of Children's Hospital. He has served as a member of the Friends of Mason District Park and volunteers regularly for special events like the Spring Egg Hunt, the Mason District Park Festival and the summer concert series, Spotlight by Starlight.

As a 10-year veteran of the Camelot Neighborhood Watch Group, the oldest continuously active watch group in the United States, Vajda has used his experience with the neighborhood watch program to help organize and promote "Park Watch" at Pine Ridge Park in Annandale.

"I am on the Park Authority Board today because I rented a garden plot at Pine Ridge Park five years ago!" he said. "I was told back then that Pine Ridge was threatened with development for some other purpose and the park would be gone. A bunch of us, later dubbed the Green Team, got together to save Pine Ridge," for which they received a 1998 Elly Doyle Park Service Award.

"Thus began my volunteer career with the parks," Vajda continued. "Ownership of Pine Ridge was transferred last year from the school board to the Park Authority, making it a permanent park. Along the way, I engaged in many other volunteer activities and came to the attention of my predecessor, Bo White. He was thinking of retiring and asked me to think about being on the board. My initial answer was no, but after a year of understudying and mentoring and arm twisting, I agreed to be a candidate. I was subsequently nominated for my position by Supervisor Penny Gross. So, be careful what you volunteer for. My garden plot yielded up more than vegetables!"