
March 3, 2022. The Valle Crucis Community Park has hired Gardner Hoover as its new Executive Director, effective mid-February. Hoover has lived in Watauga County since 1996, when he moved to Boone from Roanoke, Virginia to study at Appalachian State University, drawn to the area in part by his love of the North Carolina mountains and all the outdoor recreation opportunities in the High Country. He completed a bachelor’s degree in Recreation Management with a minor in Appropriate Technology in 2001. Following his graduation, Gardner worked for Project Challenge North Carolina, a wilderness therapy program administered through the state’s Juvenile Justice Prevention Council, for about seven years. In this role he worked with teens from around the state, working first as a wilderness guide and eventually running the program. Since that time, Hoover has worked in a variety of capacities in the area, including significant involvement with non-profit agencies. He was part of WAMY Community Action’s Weatherization program for seven years. He has been affiliated with the local Habitat for Humanity organization for over 17 years, first as a volunteer, later as a board member and, most recently, as manager of Habitat Restore of Boone, a job he held for five years until accepting the position at Valle Crucis Park.
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