Round Lake Beach receives Governor’s Hometown Award

Representatives from the village of Round Lake Beach last month went to Springfield to receive a state of Illinois Governor’s Home Town Award, recognizing volunteers for their work to improve their communities.

“The Governor’s Hometown Awards honor the efforts of 22 remarkable groups who have selflessly dedicated their time and efforts to making their communities a better place to live,” Gov. Pat Quinn said at the presentation. “We applaud these groups of volunteers for improving the lives of others and truly making a difference in our state.”

The village was nominated for history and historic preservation regarding the efforts and planning that went into the village’s 75th anniversary celebrations during 2012.

Mayor Rich Hill, village Trustee and Cochairman Larry Mount, Clerk Margie Cleveland, committee Chairwoman Judy Armstrong and committee member Tim Pasternak attended the presentation at the Governor’s mansion.

The village board and the committee set a goal of celebrating one event a month during 2012 with additional activities. They truly wanted to ensure that every resident of every age was aware it was the village’s 75th anniversary and were touched by at least one event. The goal throughout the year was to strengthen the sense of community through these events, officials said.

“We are receiving this award because of the strong commitment and time given by the committee chairs, committee members and our residents and the hours they volunteered,” Hill said.

For the 75th anniversary, the village involved a total of 435 volunteers for a total of 6,000 volunteer hours. It is estimated more than 8,600 people were impacted with this yearlong project.

Armstrong and Pasternak twice went to Springfield to make presentations during the application process.

The Governor’s Hometown Awards recipients were chosen by a group of volunteer judges who reviewed and ranked applications based on community need, use of resources and results.

The judges selected one project from each population category to compete for the Governor’s Cup. The cup is a traveling silver trophy presented to the community whose efforts were deemed most representative of Illinois’ spirit of volunteerism. The judges were so impressed with all the 75th anniversary committee organized and offered to the community during the year that Round Lake Beach was also nominated as a finalist for the Governor’s Cup.

The village received a sign to place at the village entrance to make residents and visitors aware of the work volunteers do in the community.

Members of the 75th anniversary committee who attended the Dec. 9 village board meeting for the presentation of the sign and plaque included Armstrong, Mount, Hill, Pasternak, Linette Benes, Annmarie Pryde, Cheryl Hall, Ed Fuhrmann, James Dorset, Joe Prinkdle, Karla Schneider, Lee Benedict, Margie Cleveland, Mike Gerharz, Steve Hall, Tammy Whaley, Tom Kristof and Lisa Johnson.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the village can contact Village Administrator Dave Kilbane at (847) 546-2351.