Congratulations, and welcome to the 2006 Centennial Awards banquet, our 22nd annual celebration of excellence, durability, and innovation in Illinois business and community service. The Illinois State Historical Society's directors, advisors, and more than 2,000 members are delighted to recognize this year's Centennial Award recipients (listed on page 10), and to honor our outstanding special award winners, who represent the Prairie State's remarkable, varied, and rich cultural heritage.

This year we're pleased to welcome many Centennial-plus winners, including The State Journal-Register (175 years); the Chicago History Museum (150 years); Illinois State University (which begins its 150th year in January and is co-sponsor of the Illinois History Symposium in February); the Lincoln Park Zoo (138 years); and the Chicago Cubs (130 years). We wish such tenacity and durability to all our Centennial guests.

The Society also welcomes the sponsorship of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, hosts of this year's Centennial Awards reception. Without the support of the Chamber, and other like-minded organizations, there would be no Centennial Awards banquet in Illinois.

The Centennial Awards Program celebrates our state's economic history, but there is more to a centennial business than a balanced spread sheet. Success comes from communities, neighborhoods, and families working together to improve the quality of life for everyone. It is about hard work and dreams, wages and taxes, profits and loss, the past as well as the future. Many businesses, though successful, do not make it to their centennial celebrations. We are here to remember them as well. Again, congratulations and best wishes in the next century. We look forward to celebrating with you again in 2106.

William Furry
Executive Director

ILLINOIS HERITAGE 6