Longtime Deerfield volunteer Jan Zobus saluted by mayor, village board

A relaxing night for the Deerfield board of trustees allowed Mayor Dan Shapiro to salute a veteran volunteer.

Jannes "Jan" Zobus was in the board room July 18 to hear Shapiro rattle off her numerous accomplishments over 39 years, primarily with Deerfield's Village Center Development Commission and its successor, the Village Center Commission, of which Zobus was the chairwoman.

The Village Center Commission (VCC), having achieved its goals like the VCDC before it, was disbanded earlier this year. At that point, Zobus decided to hang up her shingle.

The mission of the VCDC and the VCC, established by the board of trustees, was to promote the downtown, advocate for businesses, and work with the Deerfield-Bannockburn-Riverwoods Chamber of Commerce toward those goals.

Under Zobus, Shapiro said, "Village Center (is) a vibrant, economically successful downtown that is inviting to shoppers, attracts business, is a pleasant place to live, and serves as a place for bringing people into the community."

(Perhaps part and parcel with that, when the board later briefly reviewed a clean audit of its annual financial report, Trustee Mary Oppenheim noted that the median family income in Deerfield increased 51% since 2010.)

As a member of the VCDC beginning in 1983, Shapiro said, Zobus helped bring about streetscape improvements, the Deerfield Farmers Market, banner poles to promote community events and signage regulations to make the downtown look better. She promoted a merchant flower planter program for further beautification, and recognized veteran Deerfield businesses with plaques.

She formed the village's Appearance Review Commission - in 1985 she led an ad hoc committee on the Appearance Code, helping create those regulations - and in 1987 Zobus was appointed to the Streetscape Task Force, which also implemented aesthetic improvements to the Village Center.

A VCDC rebate program offered business owners incentives to make improvements to their company facade and property.

Interested not only in how things looked, Zobus also got things done through use of tax increment financing, Shapiro said.

When in 2013 the VCDC morphed into the Village Center Commission, as chairwoman Zobus worked with the DBR Chamber to advocate for Village Center businesses. She and the VCC continued to acknowledge downtown business owners who improved their properties.

More recently, she spearheaded a marketing brochure for outside businesses contemplating a move to Deerfield, a brochure used by the DBR Chamber. Zobus directed a resident survey to better understand what residents liked and did not like about the downtown, with the goal of attracting people there. Various village departments and the board use that survey.

"I've worked with Jan Zobus for over 20 years on various Village of Deerfield projects, but most recently on the Village Center Development Commission," DBR Chamber Executive Director Victoria Street said Tuesday.

"Jan has been an incredible volunteer in the Deerfield community and has been one of the most professional people I've worked with over the years. Her dedication to Deerfield is unsurpassed."

In his presentation, Shapiro said that while she was with the VCDC, Zobus promoted the idea of sending letters to companies that improved their properties or positively impacted the downtown.

"She was also often heard at VCDC meetings saying, 'Let's send them a good letter,'" said Shapiro.

He finished by calling Zobus the embodiment of a good citizen.

The two shared a warm embrace and then Zobus offered a verbal version of one of her good letters.

"Nobody receives a recognition like this alone," she said from the podium in front of the dias. "There's a tremendous amount of support and education that comes with it. I could not have accomplished all of this without all of you. The support, the encouragement - (from) my committee members and (VCC staff liaison) Dan Nakahara."

Zobus noted "the guy I hang around with," her husband, John, a member of the village's Cemetery Commission.

"We came to Deerfield 62 years ago and there isn't anything we don't like about Deerfield," she said.

She's "not going away," she insisted, and humorously hinted that if she had something to say, she has Village Manager Kent Street's phone number.

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart," Zobus concluded. "It's been an honor and a pleasure."