Mt. Prospect Sunrise Rotary honors longtime historical society leader

Rachel Toeppen, a 20-year member of the Mount Prospect Historical Society's board of directors and community volunteer, will receive the 2009 John McNamara Service Above Self Award on Wednesday, Dec. 2 from the Mount Prospect Sunrise Rotary Club.

The award, named in memory of one of the club's founding members and first presidents, honors non-Rotary members who offer their time and talents to make a positive impact within the community.

Toeppen chairs the Historical Society's Garden Committee. She initiated and continues to administer the Society's thriving quilting program. Her other community activities include the Sister Cities program, Mount Prospect Garden Club, and Trinity United Methodist Church.

In a letter nominating Toeppen for the award, Historical Society Vice President Jean Murphy said, "She is always willing to help the Society in myriad ways, from baking for its bake sales to helping recruit restaurants that will hold fundraisers. When Rachel sets her mind on something, she is single-minded in her determination to get it done and get it done correctly. Every plant in the Society's gardens has always been historically correct.

"Rachel is not content to think up great ideas and have others implement them. She is always in the 'thick' of things, digging in the dirt and casting out bothersome weeds or coming up with ideas for projects through which the quilters can raise money for Society initiatives like restoring the Central School," Murphy said.

In presenting the McNamara Award at the club's annual Holiday Breakfast and Raffle, club President Tony Canonaco said the entire community of Mount Prospect has benefited from Toeppen's efforts, as she has expressed the kind of dedication to public welfare the Club seeks to recognize with the John McNamara Award.

The Mount Prospect Sunrise Rotary Club is part of a global network of volunteers that comprises about 32,000 clubs in more than 200 countries. Its mission is to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace throughout the world. Rotary's vocational service program is based on the principle of recognizing the worthiness of all useful occupations and the dignifying of one's occupation as an opportunity to service society.