Roberts named Lincolnshire’s citizen of the year

Veteran Stevenson High School board member Merv Roberts has been named Lincolnshire’s 2011 Citizen of the Year by the Lincolnshire Community Association.

Roberts has been on the school board for 30 years and is the panel’s longest-serving member. He was re-elected in April.

Roberts was recognized during the village’s annual Independence Day parade on July 4.

First elected in 1981, Roberts served as the Lincolnshire school’s board president from 1984 to 2000. He guided the group during an extraordinary period of change and growth at Stevenson.

In addition to his work on Stevenson’s school board, Roberts played an instrumental role in Lincolnshire’s development as a member of its plan commission from 1976 to 1981.

Roberts led the commission from 1978 until 1981. Among the commission’s achievements under his leadership was approving creation of the Lincolnshire Corporate Center, and developing a zoning ordinance that protected environmentally sensitive areas and helped maintain the character of the village.

“While Merv possesses many leadership talents, his most significant gift to the village of Lincolnshire and the organizations within it he has worked with, has been his ability to see the big picture,” District 125 Superintendent Eric Twadell wrote in his nomination letter. “Merv has worked tirelessly since 1976 to help the village clarify its vision for the future, and he has been the first in line to see to it that those dreams came true.”

Roberts also was an active leader with Cub Scout Pack 78 before joining the school board. He served as the pack’s treasurer and fundraising chairman, and was a member of its steering committee from 1979 to 1981.