The Village of Tamms was recently awarded the Governor's Cup for the Home Town Awards project most representative of the spirit of volunteerism in Illinois.

The traveling silver trophy was presented to Tamms at the 14th annual Governor's Home Town Awards ceremony in Springfield. Tamms' winning entry was for its "Super-Max Prison Project."

Located in Alexander County, with an 18.7 percent unemployment rate and a poverty level of 32.2 percent, Tamms lost nearly 10 percent of its population during the 1980s. In March 1993, Tamms joined the Southernmost Illinois Prison Committee to work toward attracting a new state Super-Max prison to the area. From business leaders to students, Tamms residents spoke out in favor of their community as the preferred site for the prison. After Governor Jim Edgar's decision to locate the prison there, volunteers raised funds to help the village purchase land, extend utilities and make the road improvements necessary to ensure that the project went forward. The prison is expected to create more than 400 permanent jobs with an annual payroll in excess of $15 million.

The Governor's Home Town Awards competition is administered by the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, in close cooperation with the Department of Aging and the Lieutenant Governor's Office of Volunteer Services.

More than 100 communities submitted applications for this year's awards. A group of volunteer judges received the applications, judging them on the basis of local need and the participation, continuity of the project and results. The judges personally visited the communities they selected as finalists before making the final ranking decisions.

Awards were awarded to 65 projects in eight categories based on community participation. Eligible projects involve economic development, community service, community facilities, human enrichment, achievements for or by youths and achievements for or by senior citizens.

First place winners of general awards, youth awards, senior awards and economic development awards received commemorative plaques and road signs recognizing their achievements. Second, third and fourth-place winners received plaques. Cities hosting the Lincoln-Douglas debate reenactments received special plaques and road signs noting the efforts of volunteers to make the reenactments realistic and educational.

The following is a list of the 1995 winners:

CATEGORY I (population up to 1,699)

GENERAL AWARD
1st Place — Keithsburg — Volunteers contributed their time and funds to build the new First Christian Church.

2nd Place — Witt — Donating funds and labor, volunteers built a new fire station for the Witt Volunteer Fire Dept.

3rd Place — Germantown — With help from an endowment, volunteers worked to make Germantown Public Library a reality.

4th Place — Delavan — Volunteers formed Delavan Restoration Society, conducting a downtown streetscape project.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
1st Place — Tamms — Volunteers worked together to successfully attract the new Super-Max Prison to Tamms.

YOUTH AWARD
1st Place — Aroma Park — Volunteers formed Adventure Club to provide positive activities for young people.

CATEGORY II (population 1,700 to 5,999)

GENERAL AWARD
1st Place — Peotone — Commemorating 1994 as "Year of the Mill," volunteers continued to restore the Rathje Mill.

2nd Place — Carthage — Volunteers gave 18,000 hours to build the new World of Wonders Park, a Robert Leathers park.

3rd Place — Petersburg — Volunteers are leading the efforts to plant trees to beautify this historic community.

July 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 7

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
1st Place — Tremont — Volunteers are the mainstay of the Turkey Festival, which raised $43,500 for community needs.

2nd Place — Carlyle — Hosting the 1994 Olympic Festival sailing venue was made possible through volunteer efforts.

YOUTH AWARD
1st Place — Rochester — Operation Snowball is an adult/youth partnership to promote drug-free life-styles.

2nd Place — Mt. Carroll — Sink or Swim II raised funds toward a new pool vacuum and swimsuits for lifeguards.

SENIOR AWARD
1st Place — Fairfield — Volunteers staff The Clothes Line Inc., providing assistance to 68 needy families in 1994.

2nd Place — Villa Grove — Stev's Place has a new home after volunteers renovated a building bought by the VFW.

CATEGORY III (population 6,000 to 11,999)

GENERAL AWARD
1st Place — Algonquin — Volunteers built Angel Towne playground and raised funds for downtown street improvements.

2nd Place — Benton — Helping Hands for Habitation will utilize volunteers to provide homes for working families.

3rd Place — Salem — A 50-year celebration of the birth of the G.I. Bill of Rights was coordinated by volunteers.

4th Place — Highland — Volunteers contributed funds and time to build Glik Park Recreation Complex.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
1st Place — Pontiac — PROUD helped turn the historic Old City Hall into a successful retail business incubator.

YOUTH AWARD
1st Place — Rochelle — Community Action Network brings everyone together to create a healthy family environment.

2nd Place — Lemont — The Lemont Internship Program exposes youths to the world of municipal government.

3rd Place — Riverside — Members of the Riverside Law Enforcement Explorer Post cleaned up the First Avenue viaduct.

CATEGORY IV (population 12,000 to 17,999)

GENERAL AWARD
1st Place — McHenry — More than 350 volunteers helped build Fort McHenry, a fully-accessible playground.

2nd Place — West Chicago — Volunteers worked with the police to organize participation in National Night Out.

3rd Place — Centralia — Centralia volunteers staff a recycling center to promote recycling in the community.

4th Place — Godfrey — Great Rivers Land Preservation Association seeks to ensure public overlooks along the river.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
1st Place — Union County — Union County Economic

Page 8 / Illinois Municipal Review / July 1995

Development Corporation is promoting business development and tourism.

YOUTH AWARD
1st Place — Sterling — Imagination Station is a new playground in Kilgour Park built entirely by volunteers.

SENIOR AWARD
1st Place — Palos Hills — In 1994,125 volunteers gave nearly 4,000 hours to help their fellow senior citizens.

2nd Place — Chicago Ridge — RidgeFest is a four-day celebration that brings the entire community together.

3rd Place — Rantoul — Hope for the Children helps children with special needs in an intergenerational setting.

CATEGORY V (population 18,000 to 34,999)

GENERAL AWARD
1st Place — Mundelein — Project C.A.P.E. is a community approach to better the community for youths and families.

2nd Place — Mundelein — The Task Force was organized to address problems with crime in the Whitehall area.

3rd Place — Mattoon — Community Food Center provides meals to the needy and people with special needs.

4th Place — Wilmette — Volunteers raised funds to renovate the Gross Point Village Hall into a historical museum.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
1st Place — Alton — Alton Marketplace is a volunteer Main Street program to help revitalize the community.

YOUTH AWARD
1st Place — Granite City — Positive Learning with Us (PLUS) is a dropout prevention program for at-risk students.

2nd Place — Darien — Volunteers raised funds and built Safety Village to promote safety education for children.

3rd Place — Alton — High school students discourage littering through annual clean-up days and scholarships.

SENIOR AWARD
1st Place — Christian County — Bridges links seniors needing support services and those willing to give help.

CATEGORY VI (population 35,000 to 79,000)

GENERAL AWARD
1st Place — Arlington Heights — Thanks to community leaders and volunteers, Wright House today houses 11 families.

2nd Place — Arlington Heights — Frontier Days is a volunteer-run Fourth of July festival that brings people together.

3rd Place — Mt. Prospect — some 800 volunteers planted 10,000 daffodil bulbs to beautify the village.

4th Place — Park Ridge — The Human Needs Task Force supports efforts to help needy residents obtain assistance.

July 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 9

YOUTH AWARD
1st Place — Stephenson County — Mother Hubbard's Kiddie Cupboard encourages teen parents to show up for appointments.

2nd Place — Orland Township — Orland Township Youth Commission plans community events and projects for youths.

3rd Place — Tinley Park — Counselors work with young offenders to address problems and help straighten them out.

4th Place — Cicero — Proud Parents exposes eighth graders to the working world and involves businesses with schools.

SENIOR AWARD
1st Place — Oak Park Township — Oak Park Township Senior Services allied with others to create a new Senior Center.

CATEGORY VII (population 80,000 to 400,000)

GENERAL AWARD
1st Place— Palatine Township — More than 400 needy families received holiday gifts thanks to Adopt-a-Family.

2nd Place — McHenry County — Home of the Sparrow uses volunteers to help homeless families and individuals.

3rd Place — McLean. County — The Medical Society and volunteers created the Community Health Care Clinic.

4th Place — Wheeling Township — The Read to Learn Literacy/Volunteer Program helps improve reading skills.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
1st Place — Danville/Vermilion County — Volunteers run Balloon Classic, raising funds for area organizations.

YOUTH AWARD
1st Place — Will County — Secrets is a play that helps raise AIDS prevention awareness among teens.

2nd Place — Bloomington-Normal — Volunteers organized First Night to provide positive New Year's Eve activities.

3rd Place — Maine Township — The Youth Drop-In Center offers youths a safe place to play games and get tutoring.

4th Place — Springfield — Harriet Tubman-Susan B. Anthony Women's Self-Help Center is addressing community needs.

SENIOR AWARD
1st Place — Kankakee County — Christmas in April uses volunteers and donated materials to rehabilitate homes.

CATEGORY VIII (population over 400,000)

GENERAL AWARD
1st Place—Chicago— Night Ministry Health Outreach Program brings health care to homeless youths and adults.

YOUTH AWARD
1st Place — Cook County — Regional Action Planning Project helps combat gangs through volunteer-operated programs.

2nd Place — Chicago — Midtown Educational Foundation helps low-income youths become better-prepared students.

SENIOR AWARD
1st Place — Chicago — Volunteers built a Flag Pavilion and veterans monument to promote pride and patriotism.

2nd Place— Chicago—Project M.O.V.E. helps ensure that senior citizens with special needs have transportation.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS
Volunteers made it possible to successfully host the 1994 reenactments of the 1858 Senatorial debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. The reenactments were televised on C-SPAN to a national audience. Recognition plaques went to:

Community	Organizations that spearheaded volunteer efforts
Ottawa	Main Street, Heritage Corridor, City of Ottawa
Freeport	The Lincoln-Douglas Society
Jonesboro	City of Jonesboro
Charleston	Mayor's Office and Tourism Office
Galesburg	City of Galesburg
Quincy	Quincy Society of Fine Arts, City of Quincy, Quincy Cablevision
Alton	Mayor's Office, Alton Marketplace

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