Cobb's Deputy County Manager and former Cobb Parks Director Jimmy Gisi traveled to the annual Georgia Recreation and Parks Association (GRPA) meeting in Athens to help induct a former colleague and friend into the association’s Hall of Fame. Instead, he found his friend inducting him.

During the ceremony, Gisi and former Cobb Parks Director Eddie Canon were jointly inducted into the GRPA Hall of Fame. Each man had helped shape the legacy and look of Cobb County’s parks system and had worked with the statewide association.

Gisi told the audience that running and supervising recreation programs was a calling that often required working nights and weekends. “For many children in these programs, this is their only solace, the only good thing in their lives,” Gisi said. “Relish in that, make them feel appreciated, and help them enjoy their experiences.”

Gisi was Cobb PARKS' Director before leaving to become Executive Director of the GRPA for nine years and then returning to the county. He was Cobb PARKS' Director from 1997-2007 and 2016-2020.

Eddie Canon was a former Cobb County Parks Director who later led the county’s Support Services Division before retiring several years ago. Canon is currently the Parks Director in Bulloch County, Ga. Eddie Canon served as Cobb PARKS' Director from 2007-2016.

Since the GRPA started its Hall of Fame in 1988, 59 individuals and organizations have been inducted into that fraternity. The award recognizes individuals or organizations who have made unusual or extraordinary contributions to the parks or conservation movement in Georgia.