Randy Gaddo's years as a team player, on a Wisconsin dairy farm and in the U.S. Marine Corps, serve him well now that he's the leader of the team.

Peachtree City's director of leisure services for just over a year, Gaddo speaks affectionately of the years of growing up on the farm, and his 22 years in the Marines. Those life experiences created the work ethic that helps him every day, he says.

The youngest of four children, Gaddo says his parents' dairy farm "was a place where you very definitely needed to be a team player; everybody worked ... and the cows don't wait." He described the farm and the Corps as "two structured environments, a lot more alike than you would think."

Gaddo has a BS degree in international affairs from the University of Wisconsin, and had another three years of experience working with his brothers in a carpet business in North Carolina. He went into the Marine Corps at 24, "the old man of the company," he says.

Among other duties, Gaddo worked in communications as a combat correspondent during the Beirut, Lebanon, crisis in 1983, helping extricate the dead and wounded in the aftermath of a terrorist bombing that killed 241 military personnel. He finished his military career as the public affairs officer for the Corps' Southeastern Recruiting Headquarters in Atlanta.

In spite of his love of structure and organization, Gaddo has an easygoing personality that helps in supervising the Leisure Services Division's 35 employees. The division was separated from public services, to place emphasis on the special and increasing needs of parks, recreation and library services, he says.

"In Peachtree City we take our leisure services very seriously," he says with a smile. "We work very hard at leisure." His comment is only half-joking, he says, because the city literally was built around "a family-oriented recreation environment ... it's an important part of what people move here for."

When he was named director, Gaddo says, "my guiding principle was to take a look at what we had, and then build it up the way we needed it." He has a better understand now of how budget cycles work, how recreation ties into the city's overall operations, and how so many services can be provided with such relatively small allocations.

"People move to Peachtree City from all over the country, and outside the U.S.," Gaddo says, "Their expectations are high. As far as I'm concerned, I have 32,000 bosses out there, and I'd better be prepared for the kinds of programs they want now and in the future."

An important part of the process is master planning, he adds. Before the annual city retreat in the spring, Leisure Services will have completed a recreation master plan draft that can outline a path to meet the needs of the 15 volunteer youth sports associations, as well as the city's total population.

"Maintenance is number one on my priority list," the director says. "Nothing creates a worse impression than a facility that looks as if it is not kept up. We could go out an build all kinds of facilities for whatever activities. But if you don't analyze the costs of what you need to maintain it in staff and equipment you might find you have an albatross you didn't intend to create." The division now has a facilities and maintenance coordinator, Scott Christopher.

Master planning also is being done for library services, the Commission for Children and Youth, and the Kedron Fieldhouse and Aquatic Center. Public comments have been gathered on the recreation master plan, and "there's a real diversity of need," Gaddo says. The population of Peachtree City has skyrocketed in the last decade, he added, but now "buildout" is imminent.

Taking a look at population statistics and changes is vital, he says, "to know what kinds of programs we'll need in five years, 10 years, and so on."

Gaddo works hard but says he has a "stress-reduction triad" that consists of running and working out, playing guitar and "watching cartoons and building Lego projects" with Alex, his four-year-old. He and his wife Ellen also are parents of Trey, 15, and Anna, 13. Gaddo's mother, Concetta, lives with the family. They've been Peachtree City residents since 1992 and attend Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church.