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People, Places N' Things
DR. MORGAN C. POWELL, President of the Illinois Association of Park Districts and a commissioner of the Champaign, Ill. Park District, was elected to the 65-member Board of Trustees of the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) at the Association's recent Annual Congress in Kansas City, MO. The Board of Trustees is the Association's governing body, setting the Association's position on such public policy issues as federal funding for park expansion and rehabilitation and establishing procedures for professional certification of park and recreation practitioners, among other functions. Dr. Powell, a Champaign orthodontist, has served as commissioner of the Champaign Park District since 1975. He served as its president from 1979-81. The Champaign Park District won the prestigious Gold Medal Award, honoring communities with exemplary park and recreation systems, in 1979 in recognition of the park district's exemplary service to the community. Dr. Powell is a member of the Champaign County Historical Society and the University of Illinois Alumni Association. Additionally, he is a member of the University of Illinois President's Council and serves as a director of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony.
JERRY HANDLON, Director of Parks and Recreation for the Schaumburg Park District, has been elected to a term on the 65-member Board of Trustees of the National Recreation and Park Association. Prior to his current position, Handlon was director of the Batavia Park District and recreation superintendent with the Naperville Park District when it won the Gold Medal Award in 1973, the highest honor a community can receive for outstanding park and recreation services. Handlon received his master's degree in recreation administration from Southern Illinois University and currently is a member of the Illinois Community Education Association. Long active with the Illinois Park and Recreation Association, Handlon organized the first, highly successful Run to Springfield in 1980 to open the State Fair on behalf of the Illinois Park and Recreation Association. Handlon serves on the Governor's Council on Health and Fitness. But he doesn't confine all his activities to the parks and recreation realm. He is a member of Toastmasters International and is the South Chicago Regional Champion of the Toastmasters.
DR. WILLIAM E. O'BRIEN, retired chairman of the Recreation Department at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, holds a gift presented to him by some of his former students at a retirement dinner in his honor August 26 at Carbondale. Dr. O'Brien was honored for his many years of leadership as an athlete and recreation professional, including stints as a college athlete, as a former coach, as a former National Football League official, as a teacher, and as head of the SIU Recreation Department. Pictured (left to right) are George Whitehead, Director of the Carbondale Park District; Kevin Kendrigan, Palatine, Director, Northwest Special Recreation Association; O'Brien; Jerome Handlon, Director, Schaumburg Park District, and Dr. Ted Flickinger, Springfield, Executive Director, Illinois Association of Park Districts. Illinois Parks and Recreation 27 November/December 1983
DR. JOSEPH J. BANNON (left), chairman of the Department of Leisure Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, received the National Distinguished Professional Award from the National Recreation and Park Association at the 1983 Congress for Recreation and Parks in Kansas City. The National Distinguished Professional Award is part of the NRPA's National Awards program honoring outstanding contributions to the field. The National Distinguished Professional Award, the most coveted citation in the field, is presented to individuals who, through inspiration, incentive and demonstrated leadership, have made noteworthy contributions to the profession which they have served for at least 15 years. Dr. Bannon joined the Department of Leisure Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1973 after receiving his doctorate from the school in 1971. By the time he moved to the University, Dr. Bannon had already established himself as an outstanding park and recreation professional. He worked as general superintendent of the Topeka (Kan.) Recreation Commission from 1963-66 and was superintendent of the Leonia (N.J.) Recreation Commission from 1958-63. He moved into the academic world in 1966 as chief of the Office of Recreation and Park Resources at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Bannon has distinguished himself as author of four comprehensive books in the leisure field, 38 major magazine articles and as co-editor of the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration. He has received 16 research grants since 1970. Dr. Bannon received the Distinguished Fellow Award from the Society of Park and Recreation Educators in 1980.
GORDON F. MOORE, M.D., received the National Recreation and Park Association's highest award for voluntary service at the NRPA's 1983 Congress held recently in Kansas City. MO. The Alton, Illinois surgeon was cited for 18 years of leadership in developing a 703 acre "total family" community park in Alton with the help of more than 2,500 volunteer workers. Shown at the presentation of the award are (left to right) Dr. Theodore Flickinger, NRPA 1984 Congress Chairman and IAPD Executive Director; Alton Mayor Paul Lenz; William B. Parker, Electrical Workers Local 649; Dr. Moore, who is President of the Alton Park & Recreation Commissions; Charles Muenstermann, President of Alton Carpenters Local 377; John H. Davis, Executive Director, NRPA; Kenneth Kinder, Treasurer of Laborers Local 218, and Robert Weis, Business Manager of Bricklayers Local 65. The Alton Telegraph, in an editorial, praised Dr. Moore for his ability to lead and inspire the more than 2,500 volunteers "who put in time, money, materials and brainpower to help build the park" which. most appropriately, has been named the Gordon F. Moore Park. More than $1 million in materials, labor and equipment were donated. Twenty labor unions' members donated their skills to the construction effort. Local contractors and retailers donated construction equipment and supplies. Today, the Gordon F. Moore Community Park boasts five lighted baseball diamonds, nine soccer fields, a lighted football field, children's play area, native wildflower areas, horse trails, a freedom shrine and a breath-taking rose garden of 1650 bushes, complete with gazebo and carillon. Illinois Parks and Recreation 28 November/December 1983 KERRY G. CAMP has been appointed a corrections leisure activity specialist with the Illinois Department of Corrections at the Vienna Correctional Center. A graduate of Murray (KY) State University with a degree in Park and Recreation Administration, his prior experiences include terms as Director of Recreation and Assistant Superintendent of Parks and Recreation at the Harrisburg Township Park District. Also a park and recreation consultant, Camp is currently an M.B.A. student at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and is a member of IPRA, NRPA, and the Illinois Community Education Association.
SANDRA J. MURRAY has been selected as the new Director of the South Suburban Special Recreation Association. She fills the position vacated by Cindy Kirwan who has moved to Denver. A graduate of Illinois State University, Murray is presently completing her Masters Degree, Management and Development of Human Resources, at the National College of Education in Evanston. Murray began her career in 1977 at the West Suburban Special Recreation Association where she progressed to the position of Superintendent prior to her appointment at SSSRA. She is currently President of SRANI and an active member in IPRA, ITRS, and NRPA. DIANE MATHIS has been selected as the new manager of the Robert Crown Complex, an Evanston Recreation Department facility. Mathis is former manager of the Owens Recreation Center in Peoria, where she supervised for three years the two indoor ice rinks and recreation rooms. Prior to that she coordinated summer tennis court operations and the winter artificial ice center for the Peoria Park District. She has coached ice skating precision teams, girl's basketball and soccer programs. She was Midwestern rep- Illinois Parks and Recreation 29 November/December 1983
resentative for the Skating Association for the Blind and Handicapped. She studied at Illinois Central College and University of Minnesota. She has been active in fund raisers for the American Cancer Society, St. Jude Fund Drive, Easter Seals Society and United Cerebral Palsy. She currently lives in Evanston. Mathis fills a position vacated by Al Cassady in June, 1983.
RAY OCHROMOWICZ has recently been hired as Director of Parks & Recreation for the South Stickney Park District. Prior to his appointment he served as the Administrative Assistant for the Niles Park District. Ochromowicz is an active member of IPRA serving as Director-Elect of the Recreation Programming Section. He is also a member of the Technical Assistance Committee and a special IPRA Fitness Task Force. He is a graduate of Western Illinois University. BROOKS MCCORMICK, a founding member of the Forest Foundation of DuPage County, received the National Voluntary Service Award from the National Recreation and Park Association during the 1983 Congress for Recreation and Parks in Kansas City, MO. The National Voluntary Service Award is part of the Association's National Awards program honoring outstanding contributions to the park and recreation field. President of the Forest Foundation of DuPage County, McCormick was the moving force in creation of the Friends of the Furred and Feathered, a group that nurtures the wildlife projects in the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. His work on behalf of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County before corporate and industrial interests resulted in donations of more than 112 acres of parkland worth more than $1 million. He was instrumental in guaranteeing acquisition of land at Goose Lake Prairie in Grundy County that set the stage for creation of the Goose Lake Prairie State Park, today covering more than 2300 acres, the largest prairie preserve in Illinois. He is a founding member and vice chairman of the Upper Illinois Valley Association, an advocacy group on behalf of the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor and has consistently made personal contributions for the expansion of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.
"Mr. McCormick's impact, guidance and support on behalf of recreation and parks have been profound," noted the National Awards Committee. "Mr. McCormick has worked diligently to keep a low profile. As a result, many things are accomplished without fanfare, with no obvious benefactor. But many at the Forest Preserve District have come to know that, more often than not, the silent benefactor is Brooks McCormick."
JANET MOUNTCASTLE was recently appointed to the Oak Brook Park District staff as Recreation Supervisor. A graduate of Hope College in Holland, Michigan, she received a B.A. degree in both Recreation and Business Administration. Mountcastie previously served as coordinator of Hope College's Women's Intramural program. She has also worked in various capacities with the Naperville Park District. She also completed her internship with that agency.
Illinois Parks and Recreation 30 November/December 1983 |
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