By Jill Friedrichs and Teresa VanOpdorp
Since 1993, Mount Prospect’s Special Events Commission has annually hosted a Shining Star Gala on the first Saturday of February. Developing such an event was the first order of business the Commission was given after its creation by Mayor Skip Farley following a very successful Village of Mount Prospect 75th Anniversary Celebration.
Over the intervening years the event has evolved into a lovely evening celebrating Mount Prospect. The constant over the years has been celebrating individuals and organizations that live or work in Mount Prospect and make our Village a better place.
The 2020 event went on, as usual, on the first Saturday of February. But shortly thereafter, the world changed and all of the other events that the Special Events Commission plans and oversees were cancelled:
- No 4th of July Parade
- No Village Bike Ride
- No Tree Lighing (lighting was done virtually)
- No Christkindlmarket
- No New Year’s Eve Eve celebration for children
We also knew that an in-person celebration of the Shining Star winners in early 2021 wasn’t in the cards, so planning for an alternate celebration began in August of 2020. An official committee for the 2021 Shining Star presentation was formed consisting of Brenda Sawyer, Teresa VanOpdorp, Tarina Wimmer, Christina Greco, Mike Cassady and Jill Friedrichs. They considered: What will be allowed six months later? Will we be able to gather? Will we be allowed to celebrate? How do we recognize those that have made a difference? We were all hoping that 2021 was going to be better.
The group strongly considered gathering in small groups at local restaurants and showing pre-taped videos of the winners receiving their awards at the Pocket Park from Mayor Juracek. But then it happened, total lockdown! Winners had already been chosen so the awards needed to be given out somehow.
In the end, the Commission chose to do a Publishers Clearinghouse-type of event consisting of a parade including the Special Events Commission members, mayor, police and fire, and to give the awards to winners at their doors. Everything would be videotaped and posted on social media. In addition, a sign would be placed at each winner’s house to acknowledge their accomplishment and baskets of specialized gifts would be assembled.
The morning of February 6, 2021 was brutally cold but the hardy Commission members met inside at the Mount Prospect Public Works garage to decorate vehicles. Once the vehicles were decorated and members of the Mount Prospect Police Department, Fire Department and Public Works were at the garage, they began the celebration. The parade was a sight ~ with lights flashing, horns and sirens blaring as we headed south on Busse Road.
At each house everyone got out of their vehicles to help celebrate the winners. Each winner was given a yard sign to acknowledge they were a 2020 Shining Star recipient and the category in which they won. Mayor Juracek was out – front and center – presenting the winners with a crystal award, a beautiful bouquet of Purple Rose flowers and a gift basket that included a bottle of champagne, gift card to a Mount Prospect restaurant and an ornament from the Mount Prospect Historical Society depicting a local landmark.
The event was filmed by a member of the Village Staff to put together a video memory of the event to be run on the local cable channel at a later date. Jill Friedrichs ran a live feed on Facebook to capture the presentations live. With the Village of Mount Prospect YouTube channel, the presentations will be around for eternity. Some family and friends were at houses when the parade showed up to help acknowledge and celebrate the winners. Others came out of their homes as they heard the ruckus coming up the street. The parade lasted several hours into the early afternoon. At our last stop we celebrated a successful alternative to the traditional gala and the end of an era. This was co-chair Teresa VanOpdorp’s final event as a Commission member.
The 2020 award winners were:
- Tom and Nancy Bussan, Best Neighbor Award
- Mount Prospect Junior Women’s Club, Open Arms Award
- Joey Carbone, Home Town Award
- Nick Acerenza, There Ought to Be More Like This Award
- Sam Cannizzaro, Invigorated Youth Award
- Joe Scanlon, Star Spangled Banner Award
- Nicholas & Associates, Inc., Community Partner Award
Once the hurdle of the Shining Star Dinner was past, the Commission moved on to successfully bring back many of the events cancelled the year before including:
- 4th of July Parade
- Village Bike Ride
- Tree Lighting
- Christkindlmarket
But the Shining Star Dinner of 2022 was once again cancelled as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 reared its ugly head. Only time will tell when things will return to normal.
