Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Mitchell Haugh began as Montgomery County's parks and recreation director in October.

CHRISTIANSBURG -- Maybe it's because the New River is warming up and fishing season is just around the corner. Maybe it's because every night he goes home to his 3-month-old "baby girl," Hadley.

Or maybe it's because he's paid to make sure Montgomery County residents have fun, that they have fields for running, sets for swinging and rock walls for climbing.

The reason is yet to be determined but one thing is sure: Mitchell Haugh is always smiling.

It's a trait that delights Montgomery County's parks and recreation director's co-workers.

"He always has a smile on his face, he's always laughing," said athletics supervisor Chris Slusher, one of the four supervisors who report to Haugh.

"He brings a happy face to the department," said Kemvia Adams-Bush, the seniors and tours supervisor. "He has that bubbly nature about him that makes things on a bad day not seem so bad."

Haugh, who came on as director in October, admits that there are a lot of meetings to attend, grants to write, i's to dot and t's to cross.

When Slusher visits Haugh in his office, Haugh is usually surrounded by paperwork.

"It's tough to see him behind all that stuff," Slusher said.

Haugh spends a chunk of his time stretching the department's $684,028 budget to provide more equipment, trails and programs for county residents.

But one way that Haugh differs from other supervisors that Slusher has known is that he makes time to get out and meet the community.

"He comes to basketball games and helps with the after-school rock-climbing program," Slusher said. "He comes out with us. He's really hands-on, which I think the community is going to enjoy about him."

Haugh, 34, is no stranger to Montgomery County. A Blacksburg native, he played football and ran track for Blacksburg High School.

He graduated from Radford University in 2001, with a bachelor's degree in recreation, parks and tourism.

During a five-month internship in the Florida Keys, he planned water activities for a study program run by the Newfound Harbor Marine Institute and received certification in lifeguard training, first aid and safety, waterfront lifeguarding and scuba diving.

In 2003, Haugh worked as a recreation supervisor for the Botetourt Correctional Center, where he maintained the recreation budget, organized sporting tournaments and processed new inmates.

Two years later, he took on a job that he said was really two jobs in one. He served as director for Foxridge and Hethwood residential communities in Blacksburg, overseeing five miles of walking and jogging trails, eight tennis courts, a weight and fitness center, eight volleyball courts, outdoor fitness stations, eight playgrounds, four pools and two clubhouses.

He also worked as an aquatics director for HHHUNT, the real estate development and management company that operates those communities, managing 13 pools in Virginia and Tennessee.

If there's one thing that Haugh is passionate about in his new job, it's finding money to fund more outdoor facilities in the outlying areas of Montgomery County.

The department has been working with SHAH Development, owned by Larry Shelor and David Hagan of the Christiansburg-based Shelor Automotive Group, to open the Shelor Motor Mile Complex in Bethel.

The lighted facility will be a place for Montgomery County athletes to play baseball and soccer this summer.

"Blacksburg residents have Blacksburg Parks and Recreation. Christiansburg residents have Christiansburg Parks and Recreation. But the other people in the county, which is the area we're trying to hit and take care of, they don't have facilities to facilitate activities in those areas," Haugh said. "With what we have, we try to do the best we can."

When Haugh isn't working or spending time with his daughter and wife, Lindsey, he attends to his hobbies, which take up a significant portion of his professional resume. Fishing, traveling, mountain biking, scuba diving, rock climbing, backpacking, softball, canoeing and snowboarding are just a few.

Luckily, Haugh doesn't have to travel far to do most of them.

"Everything you need for outdoor recreation is in Montgomery County," Haugh said. "It's close to water skiing on Smith Mountain Lake and Claytor Lake. It's right on the AT. You have the New River for fishing, and you can go skiing at Winterplace or Snowshoe."