2020 Distinguished Service Award
Joe Isaacs
2020 Distinguished Service Award
“Tomoka Joe” Isaacs has had an interesting career track. He started at Tomoka State Park in 1988 as a seasonal employee. He became a park ranger in 1990, was promoted to park services specialist in 2004 and assistant park manager in 2012.
Under Joe’s leadership, the volunteer program at Tomoka State Park has grown. In 2004, Joe started with a small volunteer program. Since then, the program has grown to provide camp hosts and maintenance volunteers year-round.
Joe created an exemplary living history camp and character known as “Tomoka Joe.” The “Tomoka Joe” program became a benchmark for Florida Park Service living history programs. He was a recipient of the Joe Kenner Interpreter of the Year award in 2003, 2008 and 2011.
Joe has nurtured partnerships with community entities such as Ormond Beach Parks and Recreation, Volusia County Road Department, Florida Power & Light, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Boy Scouts of America, the Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce and Embry Riddle Aeronautical Institute. These partnerships directly contribute to projects that have increased access for park visitors and improved Tomoka State Park, Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park and Bulow Creek State Park.
In the arena of natural resource management, Joe has participated in wildfire strike teams, prescribed fires and as a burn boss for almost 20 years. Joe received the Distinguished Service Award for Wildfires in 2000. He also received the Outdoor Assessment Achievement Award.
In the arena of cultural resource management, Joe created a cache of information for use by staff on the locations and history of the combined 66 cultural sites of the parks managed in the Ormond Beach area.
Assistant Park Manager Joe Isaacs demonstrates what one person can do with the passion to serve the public, the desire to make the work environment better, and the resiliency to do this over his entire career.
The Distinguished Service Award is awarded annually to recognize contributions that require a high degree of personal initiative, professionalism, leadership, effort or skill; must represent a significant benefit to the division; and must be made on a voluntary or special assignment basis completely above and beyond the requirements of the employee's position description.