ANNOUNCING MUNICIPAL CLERKS
OF ILLINOIS
MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD

The MUNICIPAL CLERKS OF ILLINOIS announce the establishment of the Municipal Clerks Member of the Year Award. This award will be given yearly to the Municipal Clerk who makes an outstanding contribution to the profession of Municipal Clerk and to the Statewide organization.

Additional criteria for judging is the degree to which a Clerk lives up to the ideals of MCI. In addition, the Clerk who exhibits a respect for continuing education by attending District Seminars, the Clerks Institute or Academy, which is conducted by the University of Illinois, or by attaining college-level education in a field related to municipal government.

The Member of the Year is further chosen by the number of years of service the Clerk gives to the community and to MCI.

The Executive Board of MCI felt the first recipient would have to personify dedication and devotion to duty in a distinctive manner which far surpassed the ordinary. It was the pleasure of the Board, under the direction of President Ed Voumard Jr., City Clerk of Alton, Illinois, to search for a Clerk who had made a unique contribution to the profession of Municipal Clerk. Among so many worthy competitors, we found the ideal candidate.

Mrs. Ilion Wait Crabel, City Clerk of Chillicothe, Illinois, has been City Clerk of that community for over 63 years, having been elected in 1923. Mrs. Crabel has demonstrated a pioneer spirit by serving as a Working Clerk, yet being a loyal wife and mother during a time when it was not necessarily fashionable to combine the two careers. The Chillicothe City Council reports that she continues to perform all of the necessary functions and duties of her office in spite of her longevity. Silver-haired and soft-spoken, Mrs. Crabel will still answer her phone on Sundays for anyone needing information regarding the City's cemetery, one of her duties. There's no days off for some duties, she reports.

Mrs. Crabel was honored at a District Conference of the Municipal Clerks of Illinois held in Peoria on August 22, 1986, at the Pere Marquette Hotel. MCI President Edward Voumard, City Clerk of Alton, Illinois, made the presentation. In addition. Host Director Lorraine Chaussee, City Clerk of Loves Park, and Host Director Mary Haynes, City Clerk of Peoria, were a part of the dias. Also in attendance were Secretary-Treasurer Marilyn Steevens, members of MCI Executive Board of Directors, Mrs. Crabel's family, and various Chillicothe dignitaries.

In addition to being named the first recipient of the prestigious award, Mrs. Crabel and the distinguished guests learned that the MUNICIPAL CLERKS of ILLINOIS had conferred an additional honor upon her and upon Chillicothe, Illinois, by permanently naming the award the ILION CRABEL MUNICIPAL CLERKS MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD. •

Distributed by Mary L. Haynes, City Clerk of Peoria, Illinois, MCI District IV Director — Publicity.

Page 12 / Illinois Municipal Review / September 1986