Howe Homestead Ranger Station, 2950 Walnut Blvd, Walnut Creek, CA 94596, US

Making the city a fun and pleasurable place to live is a credo of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department. Better known as just Parks or PRCS (more of an in-house moniker), the department oversees the programs that engage the residents more than any other city entity and might be the city department that has the most direct effect on the quality of life of Novato residents. The staff's specialties are events and programs that brighten the days of the youngest and oldest Novato residents. PRCS supervises all parks and recreation facilities, ranging from the revamped Hamilton Pool to the picturesque Hoog Park to the Margaret Todd Senior Center. The Novato History Museum and Hamilton Field History Museum give visitors perspective on the life and times of past Novato residents, and the Novato Arts Center at Hamilton showcases those with visual talents. For those intent on burning off calories, the choices are plentiful, including roller hockey at the Thigpen Sports Complex at Hamilton, tennis at Pioneer Park, bocce at Miwok Park and the skatepark on Hamilton Parkway. In warm-weather months, films are shown at Pioneer Park and sometimes the City Green next to City Hall. The department publishes a semiannual activities guide that lists all workshops, sports teams, crafts classes and senior outings on the schedule. In recent years, the city has made it much easier to sign up for programs online via its Web site, but citizens can still sign up in person at the Novato Gymnastics Center (950 Seventh St.) or the Margaret Todd Senior Center (1560 Hill Rd.) The city's recent budget crisis resulted in significant cutbacks, and no city department was trimmed back as severely as PRCS. The department budget was cut back by about one-third and staffing is much thinner than in previous years. The opening of the renovated Hamilton Pool was a source of pride in spring 2010 right when the city was being forced to cut its parks budget. Staff and financial cutbacks approved by the City Council have limited the department's customer service services, but the commitment to service made by department head Pam Shinault and her staff is unwaivering, and PRCS is soldiering on.