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Mt. Prospect tapping residents to plan 100th anniversary celebration

Mount Prospect’s 100th birthday is still a few years away, but the village will soon start planning the party.

Mayor Arlene Juracek recently filled nine seats on the village’s centennial commission, the group that will lead the planning process for the anniversary celebration that will take place in 2017. The commission’s first order of business will be to set up a master calendar and work plan for the anniversary, Juracek said.

Two seats on the commission remain open; Juracek said she plans to fill those at a later date.

“I’d like to wait for a bit and see what kind of skill sets we might need in the final two members,” she said.

Juracek said she’s excited about the upcoming anniversary and believes the celebration will be a memorable one.

“Any time you reach 100 it’s a big deal,” she said. “And this will offer a great way to celebrate the history of the village, where we’ve all been, but also take a look at the future.”

The nine members appointed to the centennial commission include several people who worked on the 75th anniversary celebration in 1992. Jean Murphy, a member of the Mount Prospect Historical Society board of directors, is one of them.

“The 75th anniversary was really a great event, and now it will be fun to think how we can bring the history of village alive for the 100th anniversary,” said Murphy, a Daily Herald correspondent and former columnist. “I look forward to helping honor the men and women who built Mount Prospect.”

Murphy will co-chair the commission with Leo Floros. The other members are Alex Bertolucci, Lisa Blaszinski, Linda Hoefert, Michaele Skowron, Christy Watychowicz, John Zulaski and former Mayor Gerald “Skip” Farley and his wife, Janice, who will jointly hold one seat.

As the village nears the big anniversary, there will be smaller preliminary events along the way, Juracek said. On Sept. 28, for example, the village will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Mount Prospect Fire Department during the department’s fall open house.

“We’re going to try to have a nice build up to the actual anniversary,” she said. “Residents should really enjoy it.”

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