John Pagano Named “Employee of the Year” by Chesterfield County Department of Parks and Recreation

On December 16, John Daniel Pagano, historical interpretation supervisor at Henricus Historical Park, was named "Employee of the Year" for 2011 by the Chesterfield County Department of Parks and Recreation. Pagano was nominated by Charles Lewis Grant, acting executive director of the living history museum. Grant selected Pagano for his instrumental efforts in helping the counties of Chesterfield and Henrico with the 400th anniversary of the Citie of Henricus. Pagano designed, choreographed, recruited and implemented special programs to highlight the unique "firsts" that occurred at Henricus. Four of the events were new and Pagano developed innovative ways to present these topics to the public. He single-handedly recruited 125 historical interpreters for the site's 400th commemoration during Publick Days in September. Throughout the year, Pagano represented Henricus in dozens of media interviews and at various public appearances. He became the historical interpretation supervisor at Henricus Historical Park in 2007. Pagano is a trained special education teacher and has worked as an actor and historical consultant on hundreds of films.