Navy group scores after Gurnee rejection
Disappointment over the Gurnee village board rejection of a private Navy support group's request for a $400 contribution prompted a Lake County business owner to help.
Wadsworth resident Jim Zegar covered what would have been Gurnee's community membership fee by writing a $400 check to the U.S. Navy League's Lake County affiliate Thursday. Lake County Regional Schools Superintendent Roycealee Wood, a Navy League board member, accepted the money at her office.
"I know about the Navy League," Zegar said Friday, "and they do a lot for the sailors."
Fergal J.P. Gallagher of Grayslake, the Navy League's branch president, attended a July 20 Gurnee village board meeting and pitched the merits of buying a community membership for $400. He said more dues-paying members would increase assistance to sailors at Great Lakes Naval Station near North Chicago.
But in rejecting the Navy League request, Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik and other officials said the village receives too many inquiries for public money from worthwhile groups to accommodate them all. Kovarik said elected officials could donate their own cash to the Navy League.
Zegar, owner of Green Fuels Inc., said a Daily Herald story he read last week about Gurnee's decision led him to cut the check. He said $400 should not have been too much for Gurnee to pay for a Navy League membership.
"I thought their argument was specious at best," said Zegar, whose father served in the Navy in World War II.
Wood said she appreciated how Zegar stepped forward and committed the money to the Navy League.
"We're not out to make Gurnee look bad," Wood added.
North Chicago is among the Lake County towns with a Navy League membership. Gallagher said the village of Lincolnshire was on his list of communities to recruit after Gurnee.
Founded in 1902 with support from President Theodore Roosevelt, the U.S. Navy League has affiliates across the country. The nonprofit group's stated mission is providing education about the importance of the Navy to national security while supporting sailors and their families.