Meet Mount Prospect’s Shining Stars

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When this year’s Shining Star winners step forward on Saturday, Feb. 5 to accept their accolades at the Mount Prospect Special Events Commission’s 18th annual Celestial Celebration, they may not be recognizable to those who know them for their good works.

Chuck Bennett won’t be wearing his Northwest Community Hospital volunteer shirt nor will he be carrying a home-delivered meal. Rose Allen won’t be surrounded by enthusiastic teens and books. And Mike Klancnik won’t be hauling lighting and audio equipment — that’s someone else’s job for the evening.

Instead, they all will be dressed in their finest and getting pats on the back and recognition they never sought or expected.

And after all of the photos with Mayor Irvana Wilks, the nice meal, the official recognition, the congratulations from friends and relatives and the festivities are done, they will go back to the activities that got them to the award podium.

• Janet Trapani Abernethy, the “There Ought to be More People Like This” award winner, will advocate for the elderly. She has assisted seniors for more than 30 years through Mount Prospect’s Human Services Department.

• For at least two more years, Stacia Skinner, the “Open Arms” award winner, will join her husband, Steve, and neighbors Denise and Bob Gruensfelder, to run a huge summer block party to benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Over eight years their combined efforts have raised more than $200,000 for the foundation in honor of the Gruensfelders’ son, Tim.

• Even though his children are no longer involved, Eric Arndt, the “Youth Served” award winner, will coach members of the Lego Robotics Club and competition teams for Lincoln Junior High School.

The Motorola engineer got involved because his daughter was interested and he wanted to do something with her since he was already coaching his son’s baseball team. The Lincoln teams have gone on to become state champions and world competitors.

• St. Emily School junior high teacher Regina Kinasz, the “Champion for Youth” winner, will return to her classroom, as she has every year for the past 13. She is well-known among former students, staff and parents for motivating her students with individual tutoring, coordinating community service projects and National Honor Society events and coaching boys and girls volleyball.

• Army veteran and American Legion Commander William Bickley is the “Star-Spangled” award winner and he will certainly continue dedicating himself to the activities of American Legion Post 166 in Glenview and to veterans’ causes. He has been an active member of the Legion for an unprecedented number of years.

• Dan and Marion Motykie, the “Good-Better-Best Neighbor” award winners, will continue to serve those who live around them by shoveling driveways and sidewalks, cleaning gutters, raking leaves and baking cookies and cakes. It is second nature to this caring couple.

• Don’t be surprised if you see Barbara Klett, Carol Rojo and Sharon Stobe, the “Beautify Mount Prospect” award winners, driving or walking the streets of Mount Prospect once the weather improves. They make up the Green Thumb Award Committee. These three suggested the new award to their fellow members at the Mount Prospect Garden Club early last year and got their backing.

So from May to September they will once again be ringing doorbells and handing out awards to residents with lovely front yards that others may enjoy. Each month they will hand out one award on the north side of the village and another on the south side. The winner gets a sign in his or her yard, letting everyone know of the recognition.

• The students and parents of St. Raymond School will continue to enjoy the hard work of Mike Klancnik, owner of Pro-Mix Audio and Lighting in Mount Prospect. The “Best Business Partner” award winner has used his professional know-how for several years to enhance school dances and other church and charitable functions at his children’s school with state-of-the-art lighting and audio equipment, expertly installed.

• Chuck Bennett, the “Volunteer’s Volunteer” winner, will be back in the Northwest Community Hospital emergency room the next time he is scheduled, wheeling patients for medical tests and helping out wherever he is needed.

He will continue to drive for the American Cancer Society’s “Road to Recovery” program and will paint during the next Northwest Community Paint-a-Thon. Most important, however, he will continue to serve on a variety of boards and commissions like the Mount Prospect Library Foundation and the Mount Prospect Fire and Police Commission.

• And while she has recently retired from young adult librarian at the Mount Prospect Public Library, Rose Allen, the “Toast of the Town” award winner, will undoubtedly keep busy. During her years at the library, Allen motivated teens to participate in library-sponsored programs and activities that encouraged their growth while also learning to appreciate the library and other community resources.

Her Book Crossing Intercontinental Book Discussion was a six-month undertaking with Sevres, France, Mount Prospect’s sister city. Students in both cities read one book written by a French author and one written by an American author. Discussions of the books were then held in each city, taped and shared.