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Community Services Director April Soash Retiring after 32 years in Monrovia

On Saturday, November 30, 2013, Monrovia Community Services Director April Soash retires from public service. Ms. Soash has served the majority of her career in the City of Monrovia, rising from a Recreation Supervisor in 1981, to Community Services Division Manager in 1990, Assistant Director in 1994 and finally to Director of the Community Services Department in 1996. Her official last working day is Friday, November 22.

Throughout her career, Ms. Soash has overseen the annual Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting in Library Park, the annual Spring Egg Hunt, Summer Concerts in the park, Halloween events and Canyon Park's Haunted Hikes, Summer Extravaganza, literacy and cultural programs at the Library, and the former Monrovia Soap Box Derby. She directed City rentals, contract classes, outdoor education programs, youth sports, shelters for emergencies, and published the quarterly Community Services brochure.

Over the past 32 years, she has served nine City Managers, five Mayors, and eighteen City Councilmembers, worked with four City Clerks, five City Treasurers, and seven City Attorneys, and attended over 776 City Council and Community Services Commission Meetings.

Ms. Soash has a Recreation Administration degree from Pepperdine University and has used that knowledge to its fullest extent in Monrovia. Her legacy can be seen in the new Public Library, the Wilderness Preserve, the Mary Wilcox Youth Center, and the Monrovia Skate Park.

Soash said, "So much of what I have done in Monrovia involves family. I met my husband here and raised my children here. I have loved the opportunities the City has brought me, and it has been an honor and privilege to serve Monrovia. I am excited to now focus my free time on my family."

Source: City of Monrovia press release

- Brad Haugaard

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