AS Bermuda's Director of Parks, Candy Foggo admits her job isn't always easy. To strike a balance - to be all things to all people while preserving our open spaces for future generations - can sometimes be difficult.

This week, photographer TAMELL SIMONS and reporter HEATHER WOOD sat down with Ms Foggo to discuss her life in the parks, how she keeps physically fit and her environmental concerns of the day.

Q: What does a Director of Parks do?

A: I'm basically responsible for the administration and management of the Parks Department, which entails the maintenance and clean-up of Bermuda's parks and beaches - the parks rangers' service, the lifeguard service, it all comes under that. It's also my duty to look at Bermuda's open spaces, to develop them and enhance them so they can be enjoyed by our residents and visitors.

Q: With all the recent land development in Bermuda, do you feel that the role played by the Parks Department has decreased along with our open spaces?

A: I think it's even more important because of all the development. We have to preserve that open space but we also are challenged with striking a balance between tranquillity and people's need for recreation. Some people want active recreation and other people want passive recreation. We have to try and balance that.

I guess in the summertime it comes more to the forefront with certain issues. For example, in terms of how many concerts I'm going to allow. There are people out there who would like to have a concert every weekend and then there are those who want to have family reunions, corporate functions and things of that nature. It falls to us to try and strike a balance; to try and be all things to all people.

We're looking at Horseshoe Bay and Clearwater Beach primarily. There was some public outcry in terms of having concerts at the Spanish Point site but this year we haven't had a concert there and again, especially as it's in a residential area, we're faced with the challenge of striking a balance - pleasing concert-goers while trying to get the neighbours to understand and I think that people are now more tolerant and understanding of others.

Q: As a lifeguard in the summer, did you know that you wanted a full-time position in the Parks Department.

A: I did my undergraduate degree at Delaware State University and my graduate work at the University of Delaware. My undergraduate degree is in health and physical education and my Master's degree is in exercise physiology. Initially, I wanted to be a phys. ed. teacher.

The skills I learned through my studies, I think, play an instrumental role in (the duties I have) now; in terms of direction. But I studied towards that and then I student taught and I learned it takes a special type of person to be a school teacher. I learned that it was not for me.

When the lifeguard position came up, I applied for that and was successful and then from there I guess people saw the potential and wanted to invest in me and so I was fortunate in that regard. So I got into Parks and moved up from there. I always try to encourage other people to go for their goals.

Even with my staff, they know that I'm 100 per cent behind development and training and that kind of stuff but they are the ones who are going to have to do the legwork. If they come to me and say they want to do x,y or z and it costs x amount of dollars, then we'll see what we can do. But I'm not going to go to them and say this course is out there and you should do it. That's not my style.

Q: What advice do you have for others wanting to follow in your footsteps?

A: I think it's important for people to set goals. If you want to do something, you take the steps necessary to prepare so that you're ready when that opportunity presents itself. It's no sense saying I want to be the Director of Parks if you know the Director of Parks requires a Master's degree and you just have a high school diploma or not even that.

You have to take the steps that are necessary to prepare yourself so when the opporunity is there, you're able to present yourself in the best light and give yourself that full opportunity.

Q: Did you decide to become a lifeguard because you were a strong swimmer?

A: I have always been athletic and so swimming kind of came, I wouldn't say naturally, because Bermudians tend not to swim but now with the introduction of a lot of pools around the island, people are swimming more.

Normally, Bermudians, you know, we used to call it the North Shore crawl - you just jump overboard, swim for a little bit and then you come in or wade.

So I just tried out (for the lifeguard position) and I was successful in doing it and then I just lifeguarded during my summers at home from college.

Q: Do you still exercise?

A: I am into fitness. I'm into anything active. I swim. I like to ski. But right now, I'm just cycling.

Q: I understand you do a bit of bodybuilding? Do you compete?

A: I was the Athlete of the Year in bodybuilding in 2000 but I'm not competing any more. I think I was good at it, first of all, I think, because I had the right genes. Outside of that, you just lift weights and watch what you put in your mouth. It's basically what you eat. You have to have a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. When you do that, you strip off your body fat so that your muscle gets defined. But I think it also does something to you mentally. It makes you very moody. When I was dieting none of my staff wanted to be around me. But I'm not competing any more and I think I have less mood swings. I'm pretty normal.

Q: You mentioned having the right genes. Were your parents athletic?

A: My father, who has passed away now, was of a very muscular build. Although he never lifted any weights people always thought that he did. And he used to tell me a story that when he was younger, he bought this book called The Perfect Body or something like that which told you what you need to do to train.

The book gave certain measurements (that a person could aspire to). He was already bigger than those measurements. And even now, I have a nephew who is 14. You look at him and he is so muscular and he doesn't lift any weights. He's just like that. We were blessed in that regard.

Q: You're a fan of skiing. Snow or water?

A: I like to snow ski. I usually travel to the (US) west coast as I've heard that the east coast can be very icy and so I stick to the west coast where it's powdery and nice. I've been to Whistler in (Vancouver) Canada. I've been to Lake Tahoe in California. I've skied in France, which wasn't very nice, I think it was too early in the season. It was really icy and they don't mark their trails clearly.

Q: What, if any, goals do you have in terms of improving the effectiveness of the Parks Department?

A: I think we need to educate the public to take ownership of the parks. Many people think that because they're paying their taxes, when they litter it's okay. It's somebody's job to pick up the trash.

But if we weren't out picking up trash we could be doing so many other things in terms of improvements and planting schemes and all that kind of stuff. It's all comes down to education and it needs to take over the whole island. The railway trails are also my responsibility.

They're areas that are notorious for illegal dumping and because we are so busy picking up all the garbage that's been dumped, people start making complaints because the grass hasn't been cut and so on. It's a constant battle.

Q: Do you ever find time to enjoy any of the parks or do they remind you too much of work?

A: I kind of don't want to be in parks on my days off. Last weekend I was at Clearwater and it was a zoo. People were in there with their bikes, cars were everywhere. I'm not saying we should restrict people from using the parks, but the parks should be used in a manner that is safe.

People should be able to allow their children to run about and not have to worry about them being run over by a bike or a car or something like that. People want to be able to drive right up to wherever they're going to picnic and while I can understand you want to get your stuff there but when you're done, drive the vehicle back out.

Q: With all the campers, I can only imagine that Cup Match is a busy time for your department?

A: We have a lax policy over Cup Match. We're not throwing up our hands in defeat, but there's only so much we can do and at Cup Match we know wherever there's a blade of grass somebody's going to put up a tent. So we just say we'll pick up the pieces (the following) Monday.

We have the park rangers on duty that whole time and they have a pretty cordial relationship with members of the public, but Cup Match is a free-for-all. It's first-come, first-served and it's inevitable that you're going to have people fighting over camping spaces.

The policy we set up was that you can rope off your area or put your tent up on the Tuesday but you can't camp there until Wednesday so you have people going there on the Monday - when we try to do our last maintenance round - and setting up tents which stops the crews from actually cutting the grass and preparing the area for that long weekend.

It's something that happens every year and we're expecting it. Cup Match is a unique experience and again, it's something that happens every year and it's almost become part of our routine.

Q: Do you enjoy the holiday or do you spend it monitoring park activity?

A: When I first came into the position, I would monitor (the parks sites to see what was happening so I could make recommendations and eventually) phase myself out of the whole process. But I have a wonderful staff and they do a wonderful job and they're like, "We don't need you".

And so I can go to the game and watch that. Previously, before I took over the position, I used to travel but now I just watch the game.

Q: How many staff do you have?

A: I think it's 134 or something like that but, seasonally, it gets higher. We have seasonal park rangers and lifeguards and I also take on, as my contribution, summer students to do maintenance with the crews to try and give them some work ethic.

Q: Are you married?

A: I'm single.