IAPD and IPRA Give
Top Honors

The IAPD and IPRA are proud to honor the 2005 recipients of the associations' major awards. Presentations were made at the annual awards luncheon on January 27 at the Hilton — Chicago.

Christopher T. Riley- IAPD Rising Star Christopher T. Riley, president of the Decatur Park District Board of Commissioners, was presented with the IAPD's Rising Star Award, which recognizes elected board members who are serving their first term in office and have demonstrated excellence in performing their duties and responsibilities. "Chris was chosen from a pool of statewide candidates because of his strong leadership skills in reducing expenses, forging partnerships and initiating new revenue streams for his agency," said Ted Flickinger, IAPD's president and CEO. Riley was elected to the Decatur Park District board in April 2001. "Chris has always been a rising star in our eyes, so it's nice to see him recognized for it at the statewide level," said William Clevenger, executive director of the Decatur Park District. "He has certainly helped the Decatur Park District come a long way." Chris was instrumental in creating 'Parks and Recreation 2010,' an initiative designed to breathe new life into Decatur's neighborhood park system. He championed construction of the Decatur Park District Soccer Complex, which will contain nine fields and serve as the tournament home of Decatur's competitive mid state soccer program. "Chris brings a unique and invaluable viewpoint to the board, and he understands the importance of providing new experiences to the community even with tight budgetary constraints," added Clevenger. "We know that we'll see great tilings from him for years to come."

Martha and Stan Trygar - IPRA Citizen Volunteers of the Year Martha and Stan Trygar of Gurnee were the proud recipients of the 2005 IPRA Citizen Volunteer of the Year Award. The award recognizes individuals who are ordinary citizen volunteers within a community who have demonstrated exemplary service and contributions without asking for honor or recognition. Throughout the past seven years, the Trygars have donated their time by assisting at monthly Senior Socials. According to their peers at Gurnee, at each social, they enter the building smiling and they leave smiling. They are self-starters who work until the job is done. Their humorous, yet professional, demeanor is reflected in the way patrons respond to them. In more ways than one, they feed the souls of patrons and staff alike. As seniors themselves, the Trygars are better able to understand the needs and wants of that demographic. They share and research possible entertainment venues for socials and consistently look for ways to make each social better — whether this is through advocating for state-of-the-art A.D.A.—accessible doors on buildings or bringing towels and rags from home to use for cleaning. The Trygars were recendy selected as finalists by the Northeastern Illinois Area Agency on Aging for the Distinguished Service Award. Martha and Stan Trygar (center) receive congratulations from IPRA CEO Bill Wald (left) and outgoing IPRA Chairman Jim Reuter (right).

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Passing the Gavel For IAPD, January 26-28 marked the end of Pam Newton's term as the 2005 chairman of the Board of Trustees. Newton, of the Lake County Forest Preserve Board of Commissioners turned the reigns over to Dave Mason, president of the Dekalb Park District Board of Commissioners. Mason will lead the IAPD for 2006. The IPRA held a similar changing of the guard at its annual business meeting on January 27. Bill McAdam, the executive director of the Oswegoland Park District, is the new IPRA Chairman. He succeeds 2005 IPRA Chairman Jim Reuter of the South Elgin Parks and Recreation Department.

Alex J. Marx - IAPD Honored Professional Alex J. Marx, director of the Mundelein Park and Recreation District, was presented with the IAPD Honored Professional Award, which recognizes professionals in the field of parks and recreation who have demonstrated remarkable talents in encouraging board members to excel as citizen advocates in advancing the field of parks and recreation. They believe in the IAPD mission and have a history of supporting its endeavors. "Alex is a spirited advocate of commissioner education, and he inspires his board members to participate on the IAPD board and its committees," said IAPD President and CEO Ted Flickinger. "He is a strong supporter of IAPD programs including the Park District Youth License Plate and Friends of Illinois Parks." Marx has directed his agency's growth from a 14-acre, one building district into a thriving park district with 33 sites and more than 725 acres of land. Under his leadership, the Mundelein Park and Recreation District has developed an 18-hole top rated golf course; community and neighborhood parks; a historical preservation museum; cooperative school/park facilities and land; child care/preschool facilities; senior, community and fitness centers; a dance studio; an indoor pool; a lakefront facility; skate and aquatic spray parks; sports fields; tennis and basketball courts; a 9-hole disc golf course and a soon to be completed 7-acre outdoor aquatic center. "Thanks to Alex's careful planning and direction, the Mundelein Park and Recreation District has been able to provide all of those facilities without going to referendum," said Flickinger. "That's quite an accomplishment."

Margaret Resnick - IPRA Professional Recognition Award Bolingbrook Park District Deputy Director Margaret Resnick earned IPRA's 2005 Professional Recognition Award. The Professional Recognition Award is not an honor the IPRA presents without a lot of thought. The award goes to an individual with over ten years of full-time service, a person who has shown excellence in promoting parks and recreation on a local and regional level. Margaret Resnick has bad a profound impact on the field of parks and recreation and the Bolingbrook Park District. She has cultivated a positive, enjoyable work environment for employees, consistently achieving greater than 90 percent satisfaction levels in community-wide surveys. And she helped lead the district to local, state and national recognition -including the National Gold Medal Award. She quarterbacked the Bolingbrook Park District when her agency had the opportunity to host the second largest paintball tournament of in North America. She has negotiated deals with other area park districts to more than double the participation of the district's Special Recreation Association. Furthermore, she is a recognizable leader within the community. Margaret Resnick with IPRA CEO Bill Wald (left) and out going IPRA Chairman Jim Reuter (right).

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Thomas Richardson - IPRA Fellow Award Thomas Richardson, executive director of the Glenview Park District, earned the 2005 IPRA Fellow Award, which recognizes a past or present park and recreation professional who has shown excellence in promoting the parks and recreation movement on a statewide basis. Richardson has served the profession on the statewide and national levels for more than twenty years. During his tenure as executive director at Glenview, he has led the district through a period of remarkable growth. This includes the construction of a 165,000 square-foot community center; passage of a tax referendum to purchase a historic farm in Glenview and land for a new outdoor sports field park; construction of a new, nine-hole golf course; and passage of a second tax referendum to build two new outdoor pools. Under Richardson's leadership, in 2003, the Glenview Park District and NSSRA worked with parents of autistic children in the district to establish "Camp Hug the Bear," which won the Illinois Attorney General's Best Practices Award in 2005. For the past several years, he has served as a speaker at local high school government classes, explaining the role of park districts and their relationship to other government entities, as well as promoting the recreation profession. Thomas Richardson (center) with IPRA CEO Bill Wald (left) and outgoing IPRA Chairman Jim Reuter (right).

Lois M. Nickson accepts congratulations from IAPD President and CEO Ted Flickinger (left) and IAPD outgoing Chair Pam Newton (right). Lois M. Nickson - IAPD Mike Cassidy Commissioner Community Service Award Macomb Park District President Lois M. Nickson was presented with the Mike Cassidy Commissioner Community Service Award, which recognizes commissioners who have demonstrated the highest example of community service, personal integrity and ingenuity. Representatives of the Macomb Park District nominated Nickson. "Lois has worked for more than five decades as a volunteer helping individuals and becoming involved in programs and projects that have benefited the Macomb community," said Raymond L. Peterson, executive director of the Macomb Park District. "She has led the park district in developing partnerships, creating a long-range plan, preserving a community park and increasing citizen volunteer opportunities. She has always acted with nothing but the community's best interests in mind." Under Nickson's leadership, the park district has partnered with the school district to build new tennis courts and an all-weather track; and a formal partnership agreement was created with the City of Macomb to assure that the community's leisure needs will be well served for years to come. Nickson has served on the IAPD Program Committee, has attended every IAPD annual conference, and participates in the IAPD Board Member Development Program — reaching Master Board Member status this year for her accomplishments in going above and beyond the call of duty as a park district board member.

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Liza McElroy receives the Robert Artz Distinguished Service Award from IPRA CEO Bill Wald (left) and outgoing IPRA Chairman Jim Reuter (right).

Liza McElroy - IPRA Robert Artz Distinguished Service Award

The 2005 IPRA Robert Artz Distinguished Service Award went to Liza McElroy, director of the Winnetka Park District. The award is named in honor of Robert Artz who tragically lost his life in a plane crash in 1979. The Artz award goes to a person whose efforts have a lasting value.

Liza McElroy is a 25-year member of IPRA and has a long career of serving the parks and recreation profession at the same agency. She started out as a recreation supervisor in 1981 and today is director of a park district with a $9 million budget. McElroy has served on many IPRA sections as well as on the IPRA Board of Directors.

She has been involved with the National Recreation and Park Association through the American Park and Recreation Program. She is a member of the NRPA Great Lakes Regional Council and received the NRPA Professional Excellence Award from the citizen board branch in 2004. She was the chairman of the IPRA Board of Directors in 2000 and has served on every IPRA committee and task force.

She currently serves on the Chicago District Golf Association Board of Directors, the Winnetka Chamber of Commerce, the Winnetka Before-and-After-School Board of Directors, Winnetka Alliance for Early Childhood Board of Directors, Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Club, and she is the secretary of the New Trier Park District Cooperative.

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Dennis G. Flanagin - IAPD Allan A. Weissburg Commissioner of the Year Dennis G. Fknagin, president of the Lan-Oak Park District in Lansing, was presented with the Allan A. Weissburg Commissioner of the Year Award. Flanagin received the award for exemplary leadership and service to his community and for his active involvement with IAPD. "Dennis holds a firm belief that quality parks and recreation should be available not only in his community, but also throughout the entire state of Illinois," said IAPD President and CEO Ted Flickinger. "He has an unwavering determination to advance parks and recreation, and he has given unselfishly of his time to the IAPD board and to several of our committees." Flanagin has served as vice president and president for several terms on his park district's board. He was instrumental in the development of his community's first recreation and fitness center, several neighborhood parks and his community's first skate park. He is a founding member of his park district's foundation and serves on the park and village greenway and several south suburban regional-planning and open-spaces committees. "Dennis was first elected to the park district board in 1977, and it is obvious that the spirit of volunteerism is in his blood," said John Wilson, director of parks and recreation for the Lan-Oak Park District. "Dennis' father also served on the Lan-Oak park district board from 1959 until 1971." Flanagin spent eight years on the IAPD board and was chairman in 2003. He has served on several boards and committees including the research advisory council; National Recreation and Park Association Great Lakes Regional Council; Illinois Park District Liquid Asset Fund Plus, IAPD fund-raising task force; the 2002 IAPD anniversary task force; the IAPD ambassadors program; and the joint legislative, executive, nominating, honors and resolutions and board development committees. He has also been a strong supporter of the Park District Youth License Plate program. The IAPD presents the Allan A. Weissburg Commissioner of the Year Award annually to a commissioner who has served a minimum of six years on the board of his or her local park district, forest preserve, conservation or recreation agency; who has shown outstanding leadership and service to the community; who has been an effective statewide advocate for parks, open space and recreation through the Illinois Association of Park Districts; and who has the ability to stimulate community action while maintaining the highest ethics.

Betsy Kutska, Kay Forest and Ted Flickinger - IPRA Distinguished Service to Leisure Three professionals were the recipients of the 2005 IPRA Distinguished Service to Leisure Award. The winners were Betsy Kutska of the Park District Risk Management Agency, Dr. Theodore Flickinger of the Illinois Association of Park Districts and Kay Forest formerly of the Illinois Park and Recreation Association. The IPRA Distinguished Service to Leisure Award recognizes an individual or organization that has made a significant and continued impact on the field of parks and recreation. This honor is not awarded annually, and it is only awarded after review and a vote from the IPRA Board of Directors. The award exists to herald contributions so significant that they must never be forgotten. The first 2005 IPRA Distinguished Service to Leisure Award was bestowed upon Betsy Kutska, chief executive officer of the Park District Risk Management Agency (PDRMA). Kutska has guided the PDRMA through a period of dramatic growth from its initial twenty-five members to now over 150 park agencies — saving Illinois taxpayers millions of dollars. She led a significant reorganization in 1999 and 2000, resulting in the creation of an umbrella organization under which several programs can be offered to members including health, liability, workers' compensation and unemployment services. She is considered a leader in the public entity pooling profession. In just ten months, she created a mutual insurance company to meet the risk financing needs of intergovernmental pools nationwide. Kutska sits on the Governmental Entities Mutual Board of Directors and was elected its first chairman and is currently treasurer. The next 2005 IPRA Distinguished Service to Leisure Award was bestowed upon Dr. Theodore Flickinger, president and CEO of the Illinois Association of Park Districts. Dr. Flickinger has been instrumental on a state and national level in advancing citizen involvement in parks and recreation. As former president of the National Recreation and Park Association, he advanced NRPA's view on the importance of citizen involvement within the park and recreation system and especially at the national legislative level. Betsy Kutska (center), with IPRA CEO Bill Wald (left), and outgoing IPRA Chairman Jim Reuter (right).

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IPRA CEO Bill Wald, IAPD President and CEO Ted Flickinger, outgoing IPRA Chairman Jim Reuter and outgoing IAPD Chair Pam Newton.

IPRA CEO Bill Wald, former IPRA Executive Director Kay Forest and outgoing IPRA Chairman Jim Reuter.

His continued efforts to advance citizen boards within Illinois park districts have made Illinois a model across the country. His commitment and dedication to citizen advocacy is why he was honored with the 2005 Distinguished Service to Leisure Award.

The last 2005 IPRA Distinguished Service to Leisure Award was bestowed upon Kay Forest, past executive director of the Illinois Park and Recreation Association. Kay Forest was the first executive director of the IPRA and retired after twenty-seven years of dedicated service to the field.

Through her dedication and efforts, she has advanced the IPRA's mission of education for professionals throughout Illinois. She is viewed as a leader within the park and recreation association management industry for her vision, knowledge and passion. Her vision and dedication to IPRA has made it what it is today - one of the largest and most respected state park and recreation associations in the country.

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