Village Honors Award Winners and Volunteers

The Village of Hanover Park announced the following information:
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On Friday, January 29, 2010 the Village of Hanover Park held its seventh annual Awards Night. Village President Rodney Craig and the Village Clerk presented awards and recognized a host of Village volunteers and others who serve the Hanover Park community.

Several awards were presented throughout the evening including the Mayor's Choice Business of the Year Award, Youth of the Year, Humanitarian Award, Service to Youth Award, Educator of the Year and Citizen of the Year. Also recognized were Village Committee members and Appearance Award winners.

Service to Youth Award

The Service to Youth Award was presented to Mickey Macholl. Mickey has found a home at the Park District as a Commissioner for many years and this past year, Mickey has additionally been the Chairwoman for the HPPD Foundation.

Following a string of troubling incidents this past year, a number of individuals came together to plan an event to raise dollars to provide scholarships for Hanover Park youth. This became a major endeavor and Mickey was instrumental as the driving force to see that this event came off as we all planned and discussed. It was Mickey who modeled the determination to keep everyone on track and stay focused on the real prize, to provide for the youth of Hanover Park.

Humanitarian Award

Each year, the Village of Hanover Park presents the Hanover Park Humanitarian Award to an individual or group who has served the community through humanitarian efforts. This year’s award was presented to Dolores Herrera. Ms. Herrera, a long time resident of our community in Hanover Park, has been recognized as a community hero for the support she offered some young girls, whom were victimized by the tragic loss of their mother due to domestic violence the past year. She was amongst the first to reach out to these young girls immediately after the tragedy to ensure they were safe and taken care of.

Youth of the Year

This program is designed to recognize and encourage excellence in the young people of Hanover Park. Students are judged on heroism, community service, service to school, personal achievement and family commitment. This year’s winner was Sarah Clark who received a $1,000 scholarship and the runner up, Allison Phillips, received a $500 scholarship.

Educator of the Year

Patricia Stubbs was presented with the Educator of the Year award. Patricia is a caring leader with the strength and conviction to engage a neighborhood of families who seek to understand their responsibilities in a whole new world. Many of these families struggle to understand the culture and expectations; however they have great strength in their family values. Patricia has personally encouraged her teachers, and we have seen wonderful success in sports and mentoring sessions.

Business of the Year

The “Mayor’s Choice Business Award” program was developed by the Village’s CONECT Committee to recognize outstanding achievement in the business community within the Village. The winner of the 2009 Mayor’s Choice Business Award was Jiffy Lube. Nominees for the award included Arroyo’s Tree Service, Salon Napier and Suburban Tire.

Citizen of the Year

Mayor Craig announced Mr. Robert Wachsmuth as the 2009 Citizen of the Year. Mr. Wachsmuth has been Chair of the Environmental Committee for the past year. He headed up the Village’s first self-run Household Recycling event which was held last September and arranged a tour of the recycling center where the Village’s household recycling is sorted, and a tour of the electronic recycling facility. He was also involved in securing money for our Fire Corps, and has been a member of both the Citizens Corp Council and Fire Corps.