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Late Sugar Grove trustee named Citizen of the Year

From now on, when you see colorful fireworks go off during the annual display at the Sugar Grove Corn Boil, think of Bob Bohler.

Bohler, a village trustee for 17 years who died in April, was named the Sugar Grove Citizen of the Year on Friday night. In his honor, the fireworks display was named after him.

His work to make the show a success was known far and wide, festival leaders said. Bohler organized contracts, coordinated music playlists to synchronize with the show and filed paperwork with the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure explosives were not used in safe zones and did not interfere with air traffic control,

"Without Bob, there never would have been fireworks at the corn boil," committee member Steve Ekker said. "We decided to rename (the fireworks) because he made such strong contribution. He was eager to help do what he could."

Bohler was involved in other ways. Upon moving to Sugar Grove, he coached soccer and was president of the Sugar Grove Lions Club, Village President Sean Michels said.

Bohler lost his first run for village board by three votes. "Most people would move on and wouldn't want to run again because of that," Michels said. "But he persevered through the next election and won."

During his time on the village board, Bohler worked extensively on efforts to reconstruct the intersection of Route 47 and I-88. Trustee Mari Johnson said he was "instrumental" in turning the architectural review committee into the Sugar Grove Economic Development Corporation by adding professional architects into the discussion.

"That took a lot of the back and forth out of the debate, so you had actual commercial architects looking at how structures should look," Johnson said. "It sounds like it would add to process, but it really streamlined it."

Johnson and Sugar Grove Library Trustee Pat Graceffa nominated Bohler for the award.

"He was a good guy who loved his family and cared about his community enough to step up and get involved, to dedicate time and effort to make community a better place for everyone," Johnson said.

The first Bob Bohler Memorial Fireworks will be held at 9:30 p.m. today at Volunteer Park. For more information visit www.sugargrovecornboil.org

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