A Guinness World Record holder is Oak Harbor’s first parks and recreation department director.

Brian Smith took on the head role of the new department only two weeks ago. Last July, city council approved the creation of the department, which combines the marina, senior services and parks department.

Smith, a Pasco native, has 28 years of parks experience and has worked in several cities. Most recently, he was the parks director in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

In Provo, Utah, Smith helped organize the world’s largest scavenger hunt. Over 2,000 teams participated in the city-wide hunt that took people to different parks and historical landmarks. Participants had four hours to complete 50 tasks, which included things like taking an outdoor Zumba class or flying a kite in a park. The goal was to have residents explore their city.

Smith plans to carry out similar creative activities in Oak Harbor parks, as well as improve them overall.

“We have a lot of great parks, but most of them need to be updated,” he said.

There are 34 parks in Oak Harbor with 250 acres of maintained park land. Updates could include installing new playground equipment and making parks more accessible to those with disabilities.

Smith sees a lot of potential for more biking and hiking trails and more events, activities and wellness programs.

“What we’re trying to do right off the bat is kind of add that fun factor to the city,” he said.

Other goals of his include more beautification and landscaping of the downtown and ensuring that parks, which have a perpetual maintenance cost, can help pay for themselves through different programs.

One of the challenges Smith anticipates facing is making sure city staff feels supported and preventing burn out while providing the best services and programs possible to residents.

So far on the job, he’s enjoyed meeting members of the public and hearing what improvements they think the city needs.

“I see my job as, first off, to lift the community’s vision of what really is possible and give them something to really raise the quality of life for them,” he said.

Currently, there are two vacancies on the city’s Parks Board. Smith encouraged anyone who is interested in parks and recreation to apply.