Arlington Heights prayer breakfast to feature new key speaker

The 35th annual Arlington Heights Mayor's Community Prayer Breakfast, postponed in February because of a COVID-19 surge, has been rescheduled.

The keynote speaker, however, won't be one of the coaches on the staff of former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy, but a longtime community member and school board member instead.

Mike Furrey, the wide receivers coach who was let go as part of Nagy's staff in January, was still scheduled to deliver the keynote address Feb. 3.

But the two-time NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nominee was hired in March as head football coach at Limestone University, a small, private Christian school in Gaffney, South Carolina.

Organizers of the prayer breakfast didn't want to twist Furrey's arm to come back and speak, according to Mayor Tom Hayes, so they turned to Northwest Suburban High School District 214 Board President Bill Dussling, who has been a regular attendee of the annual prayer breakfasts in Arlington Heights.

Dussling, a 43-year resident and District 214 board member for two dozen years, is a member and lector at St. Edna Catholic Church, Vietnam veteran helicopter pilot, volunteered with Frontier Days and coached in the Arlington Heights Youth Basketball program for years.

Furrey originally was scheduled to speak at the 2020 prayer breakfast, but had a conflict and the Bears team chaplain spoke that year instead.

After a virtual event in 2021, this year's rescheduled breakfast will be held in person from 7 to 9 a.m. Thursday, May 12, at the Double Tree by Hilton Chicago Arlington Heights.

The morning of multidenominational prayers, scripture readings, musical performances and reflections is $20 to attend, or $200 for a table of 10, and includes breakfast.

To register, visit the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce website at arlingtonhcc.com.