photo by Jeff Harbin, Life of Riley Photography

Larry Offerdahl

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Larry Offerdahl originally planned to graduate South Dakota State with a degree in business and economics, which was certainly a detour from his farm-and-ranch upbringing. After chatting with a park manager for a college paper, he changed his major to park management to prepare for a career in that field.

He landed a director’s position at a park in Mitchell, South Dakota, only two years after graduation. However, eight years into his career, Larry decided it was time to leave the Midwest.

“The winter of 1983 was one of the harshest winters in history. The wind chill was 100 below zero,” says Larry, director of parks and recreation in Amarillo. “I wanted a major life change, so my wife, Deanna, and I decided to move to McKinney, Texas, and I was their parks director for 17 years.”

During his nearly two decades working in the suburbs of Dallas, Larry and his crew built 15 parks in the surrounding area. However, he got the urge for another life change, and this time his job choices narrowed down to three very diverse locations: Washington, New York, and Amarillo, Texas.

“A friend told me about Amarillo, what it was like here and how the people are. It intrigued me,” he says. “My wife’s a teacher and this was really a better fit for us.”

The Offerdahl family moved to Amarillo in 2001, and since then has been a part of the Greenways, City View and Westover Village construction, as well as the Rails to Trail.

“Parks and recreation is a business. We provide services to Amarillo that most people don’t realize,” says Larry. “The number one thing we always do is ask, ‘What is our mission?’ It’s to enhance the quality of life for people here.”

Larry insists on always challenging his staff to be creative and innovative, to always think out of the box. Upon starting his third director’s position here, he took his 17 supervisors on a staff retreat and had them each participate in what he called his “I Have a Dream” activity. He asked his staff what they would do, given then necessary resources, and after hearing each five-minute presentation, he agreed that 13 of the 17 plans were plausible.

“I’m just a facilitator of services. I’m a big believer in master plans – what things could be. That’s what we’re doing with the zoo,” says Larry. “We want people to be proud of the park system and we’re going to do our best to make it valuable. Parks and recreation should be the fringe benefits of paying taxes.”

Every other year, the department conducts research through Texas Tech on industry trends so they can continue providing the best services to the public. One area that is under constant scrutiny is water consumption. Shortly after becoming director, Larry got to work on analyzing ways to protect natural resources. Since 2002, they’ve saved 1.2 billion gallons of water, even after adding 150 acres of irrigation, by changing the existing hydraulic systems and synchronizing them with rainfall.

“I grew up with lots of open space with good hunting and fishing. It was a very rural lifestyle and that gave me a good work ethic,” says Larry. “I’ll quit doing this when I stop having fun.”

When Larry isn’t master planning for potential new projects or designing new ways to help with water conservation in Amarillo parks, he enjoys scouting for new additions to put in his coin collection.

The most famous or interesting person I’ve ever met is… Arnold Palmer. I met Mr. Palmer when I worked in the Dallas area as our city planned a new golf course.

One of my favorite childhood toys was… a BB gun. My brothers and I would go exploring with our BB guns along one of the creeks that ran through our farm in South Dakota.

One movie I could watch over and over again is… “Grease.” The music and characters in this movie come together for a very enjoyable experience.

If I were a character in a book, I would be… the character that creates the surprise ending in the novel. I enjoy finding ways to make each day have some kind of special meaning.

The greatest piece of advice I’ve ever received is… my father’s advice, “always be positive, don’t take yourself too seriously and enjoy each day to the fullest.”

You may be surprised to know that I… attended a small rural elementary school in South Dakota and my class had three students for all eight years. One of my classmates became a doctor, one became a nurse and I pursued a career in parks and recreation.

I know every word to the song… Jimmy Buffet’s “Cheeseburger in Paradise” (well, almost all of the words).

If I had the time, I would… take piano lessons.

My favorite bad-for-me-food is… chips and hot sauce.

The most unique place I’ve ever traveled to is… The Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska. It is 1.5 miles wide with ice 100 to 1800 feet deep.

When I get in my car, the first thing I listen to is… 100.9 the Eagle morning show while driving to work.

My friends and family call me… Larry O.

My favorite meal to make from scratch is… a tenderloin steak, grilled and served with a baked potato, mixed garden salad and a glass of Merlot.

In an alternate life, I would’ve been a… a naturalist in a national park or wildlife area. I enjoy working in a profession where people can learn about protecting our natural resources while enjoying the beauty of these resources.

After a long, hard day, I love to… work out or go for a walk in my neighborhood.

When my children grow up, the one thing I want them to always remember is… seek things in life that bring happiness and strive to do the best in everything.

One habit I wish I could break is… I need to order one less cup of coffee per day.

My guilty pleasure is… eating a piece of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.

When I get online, I always go to… Ebay and look for something that I really don’t need to buy.

The thing I love the most about living in Amarillo is… having moved here from the Dallas area, I enjoy the cooler evenings, great sunsets and no traffic delays when driving around Amarillo.