With only 10 dished out world-wide it was a major achievement but again the hands-on side of him won out.
It was 1980 and the newly-amalgamated Rotorua District Council made him an offer he couldn't refuse - integrating the former city and county council's parks and reserves workforces into a single entity.
"We'd been through Rotorua on our honeymoon and I'd thought I wouldn't mind living and working in parks here."
For the past 37 years shaping those parks and associated reserves have been Garry Page's job lot but in the council's most recent restructuring process his position with the fancy title of Open Spaces Operations Lead was disestablished.
The man who was at the pointy end as Parks and Reserves, then Parks and Recreation manager when Rotorua won the country's most beautiful city award five times in 10 years, remains raw to have been let go from the mothership he's been part of for so long.
Job offers are already coming his way but he's keeping his options open.
If he has to leave the place he's been instrumental in shaping literally from the ground up then so be it, but he's not limiting himself to his area of expertise; tourism and hospitality attract him.
The winner of a swag of work-related awards "flattering, but I'm not big into cups and accolades", he convened five National Recreation Association conferences in his home town.
"They've become a bit legendary so I may well look at something in that direction."
Consider his future a 'watch this space' scenario as we rewind to his marriage to Denny and those early Rotorua days.
The couple met at a Palmerston North Oktoberfest on what could loosely be called a blind date.
"A mate asked me along, I arrived to find there were just two of us blokes and eight nurses, Denny was a Rangitikei girl, I was a Manawatu boy, our schools used to compete, I guess that helped attract us to each other, we were 18, married at 22."
Taking up the Rotorua job presented a major challenge for the then 24-year-old.
"There was a huge staff, some my grandfather's age, so it was a hard position for a young fella to be in."
The combined councils meant integrated headquarters for parks staff. A purpose-built depot was established in Tarewa Pl.
"I was responsible for designing it, managing it, in charge of demolishing it when CastleCorp (now InfraCore) came into being."
Away from the depot Garry's job was to get dirt under his nails.
"I'm probably one of the last parks managers to have weeded gardens, mown lawns, dug graves, maintained sports fields, nowadays it's all about business management qualifications."
He was in at ground zero when the International Stadium and Centennial Park, originally known as The Tree Trust, were broken in.
"With Centennial Park I was there from when it was just 13m high gorse. We had big gangs of unemployed men working to make it a very special place for people to sponsor a tree to commemorate a person, some event in their lives."
With thousands planted it's now full.
Centennial Park is cemented in the Page family's hearts.
It's where they farewelled their son, Isaac, whose life was claimed by a freak accident in 2005.
An always-on-the-go kid who'd been diagnosed with ADHD, a collar he was wearing caught on a banister, choking him. He died 10 days before his 10th birthday.
His family saluted the boy they knew as "Little Man" with a barbecue in the trust's Totara Grove - Isaac had loved barbecues.
More than 300 attended the poignant memorial led by Garry. "We didn't want a sombre occasion, it was a celebration, ending with all the kids sending balloons into the air carrying messages to their friend."
The International Stadium is a far happier hunting ground for Garry.
"I've been to just about all the sporting events held there."
Establishing the Westbrook Sports Complex also came under Garry's ambit.
To his project highlights add the Green Team school holiday and Lakes Safety programmes, the latter based at the Aquatic Centre at a time the country's drowning rate had reached a record high.
There's a unique twist to being a parks director/open spaces person in Rotorua. It's our geothermal activity and the dangers it poses.
Garry estimates he's been called to at least 10 geothermal-related deaths, the majority in Kuirau Park.
The 2010 Boxing Day death of a Tongan boy who claimed onto a safety wall, toppling into a boiling mud pool was particularly emotional for him, despite a coroner ruling the death was no fault of the council's.
"He was the same age as Isaac, you can't help but be affected by something like that."
Garry may no longer have a place in the running of local parks and reserves but he remains an assessor for the Green Flag accreditation team rating national parks.
"I get a world class tour of these top class facilities around the country, get to see the most amazing places."
GARRY PAGE
Born: Feilding, 1956
Education: Manchester Street Primary, Feilding Intermediate, Feilding Agricultural High, Massey University.
Family: Wife Denise (Denny), two daughters, three sons (one deceased), three grandsons "including identical twins".
Interests: Family, sport, running; three Rotorua Marathons, "I'm paying for it with my knees". Former Hash House Harrier. "I've always been a beach person." "Meeting people, socialising, I love showing visitors places off the beaten track."
On Rotorua: "There are so many opportunities here Rotorua's going to continue to race ahead."
To the suggestion his garden must be as groomed as a royal park: "Heck no, like a builder's home it's the last to be attended to."
Personal philosophy: "Live for the moment, maximise opportunities as they arise."
