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Artists give flair to Mount Prospect celebration

Start with an eye-catching, instantly recognizable logo, add in iconic community images and artfully-designed graphics and you have the necessary ingredients for marketing a successful anniversary celebration.

Three local volunteers are the artistic heroes behind the scenes of Mount Prospect's centennial celebration, which kicked off last July with the unearthing of a time capsule buried during its 75th anniversary. While the centennial celebration is scheduled to continue with a raft of events through the end of 2017, the village officially turns 100 on Feb. 3.

Tim Buelow

Commission members approached the Harper College graphic arts department in the spring of 2014, looking for a student to take on the challenge of designing a logo. Tim Buelow of Schaumburg was one of three students in the Harper Graphic Arts Design Club who worked collaboratively to produce 12 logos for consideration. One of his designs was chosen.

Buelow was older than most of his fellow students, having returned to school to pursue his longtime interest in graphic arts and photography after his 9-year career as a fireman/paramedic in Elgin was ended by a back injury.

“I like to reach out to the community,” said Buelow, who has two young children. “Many organizations came to the graphic arts department for assistance, and I really enjoyed doing that work.”

Seeing his logo on the side of the Mount Prospect water tower was a particular thrill.

“When you are talking to organizations like this, people always throw out big ideas and you never know how much will actually come to fruition. So when a group's ideas actually happen and all of your hard work pays off, that is the real reward,” he said.

After completing his studies, Buelow spent a year designing lapel pins and lanyards for a local firm and a year selling for an Itasca company that specialized in laminating printed sheets and folding them into unique shapes.

When his wife got a large promotion, Buelow chose to become a stay-at-home dad until his 4-year-old goes to school.

Mike Zarnek

The photography work of Mike Zarnek, a 25-year Mount Prospect resident who can be seen snapping pictures at nearly every Mount Prospect event, also was key.

“There are so many people in Mount Prospect who are working so hard to provide residents with wonderful events,” Zarnek said. “I have made it my mission to create a record of these events so that the people who bring them to the public can see the happy faces and understand the great work that they are doing.”

Zarnek is the “official” paid photographer for the Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce and the village and loves taking photos of Mount Prospect landscapes and landmarks when the light and cloud formations are just right.

He has accumulated a huge portfolio, which he shared with the Centennial Commission, allowing them to use four of them — free of charge — on streetlight banners and on a series of posters for sale at www.mountprospect100.com.

Zarnek is self-taught, but photography runs in the family. He is grandson of Vern Whaley, former picture editor for the Chicago American newspaper, and his mother, Peggy, was one of the top female portrait photographers in Chicago for many years, immortalizing such luminaries as Ronald Reagan, Gov. James Thompson, Oprah and a number of Catholic cardinals. Two of his uncles were also photographers.

Photography is a sideline for Zarnek, who makes his living as a national employment recruiter for the construction, renewable energy and wireless industries. He has three grown children and lives with his wife of 25 years, Jean.

Neal Bradley

Neal Bradley has been the official graphic arts volunteer for the Mount Prospect Historical Society since he joined its board in 2000, designing brochures, posters, stationery and anything else the society needed, and redesigning and updating its websites.

He also portrays historic characters during the society's periodic cemetery walks and acts as emcee at its annual meeting.

But his association with the society actually began in 1988 when his wife, Jan, volunteered his services to help Holiday Housewalk founder Jean Murphy with graphics for the then-new event. He has been designing the housewalk program and other promotional materials ever since.

For the anniversary, Bradley, who has lived in Mount Prospect for 33 years and has two grown children, has designed many of the banners at village events, streetlight banners featuring the water tower photo, lawn signs, posters being sold to help finance the celebration and other items.

Bradley learned the art of letterpress by working in his father-in-law's hot metal shop beginning in 1975 in Chicago. A decade later he purchased the business, adapting as computers revolutionized the printing and graphics arts businesses.

Today, he owns Digital Palace, designing marketing and public relations materials for a wide range of clients.

“I can now do through my computer the tasks that we had four other companies do when I started,” he said. “When the MacIntosh came out, it changed my life and pre-press completely. Things now take a third of the time they once did.”

Bradley said he enjoys his community work.

“I sometimes get more appreciation for the volunteer work I do than I get from my paid clients, so that makes it worthwhile,” he said.

Neal Bradley, the official graphic arts volunteer for the Mount Prospect Historical Society since 2000, learned the art of letterpress by working in his father-in-law's hot metal shop beginning in 1975 in Chicago. A decade later he purchased the business. Courtesy of Mount Prospect Centennial Commission
Photographer Mike Zarnek shot the installation of the centennial logo on the village's water tower from this lift. Courtesy of Mount Prospect Centennial Commission
Photographer Mike Zarnek shot the installation of the centennial logo designed by Tim Buelow on the village's water tower from this lift. Both have volunteered their help to marketing the village's 100th anniversary celebration. Courtesy of Mount Prospect Centennial Commission
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