Des Plaines man earns honor for rain garden

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn presented a 2007 Environmental Hero Award to Ken Schaefer of Des Plaines for his commitment to environmental health and protection in Illinois. Schaefer helped Cumberland School in Des Plaines create a rain garden in 1999, seeding native plants and replacing a quarter acre of grass that previously flooded after rain. The successful rain garden helped launch Quinn's Rain Garden Initiative, which provides grants for this low-cost environmentally friendly method of improving water quality while preventing flooding and drainage problems.

• Jeff Chadwick, a member of the Mount Prospect Toastmasters Club, was recognized as a "Competent Communicator" by Toastmasters International after completing 10 speech projects. Chadwick, a former president of the Mount Prospect club, is a manager for the Walgreens Corp., in Deerfield.

• Daniel DeNicolo, an employee of the Merlin 200,000 Miles Shop in Prospect Heights completed the Tune-up/Fuel Injection course at the Merlin Training Center in Geneva. DeNicolo learned the skills necessary to perform maintenance tune-ups and fuel injection cleaning.

• Arlington Heights native and 1999 St. Viator High School graduate Cristina M. Walters has joined the corporate and securities group in the Detroit law offices of Miller Canfield. Walters holds a bachelor's degree from Miami University of Ohio and a juris doctorate from Wayne State University Law School. She resides in Birmingham, Mich.

• Ray Walker of Arlington Heights was recognized as a Kansas State University Foundation trustee and honored for his dedication and commitment to the university.

• The Buffalo Grove Area Chamber of Commerce presented the following annual awards: Director of the Year, Arnie Martin, Arnold Martin Music; Member of the Year, Marie Lapidus, Chocolate Marvels; Business of the Year, Pioneer Press-Buffalo Grove Countryside; and Ambassador of the Year, Dan Dame, Chicago North Financial Group.

• George Bellas, a senior partner in the Park Ridge law firm of Bellas & Wachowski, was recognized as an Illinois Super Lawyer for his work in business litigation by Law & Politics. This is the fourth consecutive year Bellas has been named an Illinois Super Lawyer.