Nominate Naperville's Citizen of the Year

Naperville American Legion Post 43 began naming a Citizen of the Year in 1986.

Four years ago, the program was expanded to consider naming a Citizen of the Year to three categories: Service to the Community, Service to Youth, and Service to Veterans.

They are asking for the community's assistance to identify deserving candidates in each category.

Nominees must be Naperville residents whose service must have been performed in a volunteer capacity, rather than as part of compensated employment.

Anyone may nominate a candidate by sending a letter or email that includes:

• Nomination category;

• A comprehensive description of the services the nominee performed, including time frame and duration;

• The significance of the service to others;

• Name and contact information of the nominee;

• Name and contact information of the person offering the nomination.

Letters from other people endorsing the nominee are encouraged.

Naperville is blessed with many people who serve their fellow citizens. The judges have a very difficult task. Comprehensive information such as attachments and endorsements are very helpful in selecting the winners.

These may be mailed to Citizen of the Year, c/o American Legion Post 43, P.O. Box 4, Naperville, IL 60566; or preferably emailed to vahlej@comcast.net.

Submissions must be received by Wednesday, March 18.

Winners will be announced in the local media and honored at the Naperville American Legion's awards and recognition banquet on Saturday, April 18.

For information, visit www.naperlegion.org/citizen-of-the-year.

The "Citizen of the Year" award winners for 2019 were: Alissa Johnson Tripas, Richard Yndestad, and Joe Labut.

• Like her fellow Service to Youth winners, Alissa Johnson Tripas is tireless in working for others, and she has done so over an extended period of time. One nomination letter describes her enthusiasm and leadership as boundless; she is an example to all. Students in Naperville enjoy a high-quality education, along with social and emotional support, because of people like her. She has been a member of the Naperville Education Foundation board of trustees for six years and served as chair for two years. She founded and, for five years, chaired Team Naperville Education Foundation, which has raised an estimated $175,000 to benefit students in Naperville Unit District 203. She also has served on the boards for Young Naperville Singers; Junior League of Kane and DuPage Counties; and Home and School Association of Kinsley Elementary School.

• Service to Veterans award winner Richard Yndestad serves veterans in a multitude of ways. On Fridays, he can be found at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery sounding taps for the veteran burial services. He fills the same role for the combined Naperville American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post's Honor Guard for local burials and funeral home walk-throughs, honoring veterans at their wakes. He makes himself and his bugle available for other veterans causes, such as the DuPage Veterans Foundation fundraiser in support of Honor Flight Chicago, which sends World War II, Korean War era, and Vietnam War era veterans to Washington D.C. to visit military branch memorials and be honored by their fellow citizens. He is also editor of Naperville American Legion Post 43's monthly newsletter, which has been named the number one newsletter in Illinois, for posts with over 400 members.

• Since joining Naperville Community Radio Watch in 1993, Service to Community award winner Joe Labut has provided over 4,000 hours of community service in a multitude of tasks, including night time police beat patrols, training patrols, seat belt compliance patrols, and patrols targeting high crime areas. He has also conducted hand held mobile device surveys, radar surveys, and special event security patrols during Rib Fest, art fairs, parades, and other occasions, such as Black Wednesday, that bring large crowds to the city. He was twice named the Naperville Community Radio Watch Member of the Year, served as president from 1999 to 2010, and in 2018 he returned to the board, where he has focused on updating the new recruit training manual, procedure manuals, and service contracts for special events. He also was instrumental in adding five new members and a half dozen prospective members currently in training.