The Brookfield Jaycees presented awards from the region and state levels, honoring their achievements in 2008 at their March general membership meeting.
The chapter received the coveted Henry Giessenbier award, named after the founding father of the Jaycees and given to the most outstanding chapter amongst those in their chapter division in Illinois.
Brookfield Jaycees were also awarded first place in the Parade of Chapters competition, a program which tracks progress amongst all 88 Jaycee chapters within Illinois, and the chapter was one of two honored with the President’s Club award for achieving consistent membership growth every month during 2008.
Brookfield received top honors in their division in all four programming areas and was named first in the entire state for their Business Area programming.
The officers of the chapter were also recognized for their success. The following officers were ranked third in Illinois: Brad Carrino (treasurer), Jennifer Carrino (local director), John Hanna (management development vice president), and Tim O’Toole (secretary).
The chapter’s membership vice president, Melanie Sprengel, received top honors and was ranked first in the state. Finally, President Yvonne Agnello-Adams received the Robert L. Pleak award naming her the Outstanding Local President in Illinois, an honor shared by only two other past presidents of the Brookfield Jaycees.
The Brookfield Jaycees also received the coveted Vice President’s Cup for the third trimester and was named Outstanding Membership Chapter for the third trimester for their outstanding membership programming, events, and growth at the end of the year and received top honors for their Haunted House Kid’s Matinee project.
The Northeast Region awarded the chapter with top honors for their business and international area programming for the year. The Northeast Region also awarded the following people for their efforts in 2008: Agnello-Adams (President of the Year), Hanna (Local Officer of the Year), Bob Kluge (Associate of the Year), the Carrino Family (Family of the Year), Jessica Pimentel (The Outstanding Rookie for the Third Trimester), Donna Ward (The Outstanding Associate for the Third Trimester), the Pimentel Family (The Outstanding Family for the Third Trimester) and Brendan O’Toole (The Outstanding Child for the Third Trimester).
Big winners
Fifteen patrons of the North Riverside Public Library were the lucky winners in the library’s annual National Library Week raffle.
Loretta Rupert won a Famous Dave’s catering package for 10, donated by Famous Dave’s, and Genevieve Wright, Ana Minjares, Marlena Higgins and Miranda Bucio won Borders gift cards, donated by the Friends of the Library.
In addition, Phil Santoro won a Darden Restaurants gift card, Marcia Blaszinski won a Bath and Body Works gift card and Rosanne McGovern won a Starbucks gift card, all donated by MidAmerican Specialties. Theresa Kirkley won a Blockbuster gift care, donated by Allstate Imaging.
Also, Mary Anne Hunter, Alice Mickie, Claire Minchin, Gloria Morrissey, Pat Polanski and Anton Vlcek won tickets to the North Riverside Players Theater presentation of “Cinderella,” donated by the North Riverside Players.
Patrons were given a raffle ticket for each book they checked out during National Library Week, which was celebrated from April 13-18.
Moving on
Sgt. Rocco DeSantis, a member of the North Riverside Police Pension Board for the past 20 years, will step down on April 30. Two weeks ago, DeSantis was honored for his two decades of service with a special plaque and a gathering in the Village Commons council chambers.
DeSantis will be replaced on the board by Officer Frank Schmalz.
Tops in hoops
Two Brookfield residents, Rose Williams and Zandra Henry, were among the 10 members of the Seguin Penguins basketball team, which took home the gold medal at the 2009 State Special Olympics Basketball Tournament in March.
The tournament was held at Illinois State University in Normal and featured 1,500 athletes from throughout the state. The Penguins’ Team C, representing Seguin Services Inc., were crowned the Division 1 State Senior champions are defeating the Cornerstone Jaguars of Joliet 31-30 in overtime.
The team was coached by Seguin staff members Lovie Twine and Debbie Jargstorf.
On campus
St. Mary School student Nerija Coplinskas won fifth place in the 2009 Illinois Arbor Day Poster Contest, which was open to all fifth-graders in the state. Individual schools were responsible for judging the local contest, with individual school winners judged by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Over 1,500 students participated in the local poster contests, according to the IDNR. Coplinskas won the book Trees of Illinois by Linda Kershaw and other educational materials from IDNR, the National Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota.
Brookfield resident Matthew Letcher was recognized as a scholar-athlete last month during Nazareth Academy’s Winter Sports Awards ceremony. Letcher was one of eight Nazareth seniors achieving a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher after six semesters in their respective sport.
Letcher was a member of the Roadrunners’ boys basketball team.
Among the local residents named to the University of Illinois’ dean’s list for the fall semester of 2008-09 were Brookfield residents Katie Bednar, William Comrie, Stephen Drake, Maximo Menchaca, Penn Patunsinchai, Jacqueline Pendola, Kristal Petrovich, Kevin Smith and Mallory Swift; North Riverside residents Evan Thomas and Ruth Osbrink; and Riverside residents Racquel Ardisana, Rhiannon Ardisana, Brittany Harrington, Rebecca Jana, Alloy Kemp, Alexander Munaretto, Nanci Reggi, Maria Ricker and Lindsey Stirek.
Three students from Blythe Park School in Riverside won medals at the Race That’s Good for Life, held April 19 in Oak Park. The event, sponsored by the Oak Park Runners Club, includes a 5K race for adults and a one-mile race for children ages 7-12.
Fifth-grader Richie Gentile placed fifth overall in the youth mile race and first in the boys 9-10 age group with a time of 6 minutes, 53 seconds. Keri Burke, also a fifth-grader, finished first in the girls 9-10 age group with a time of 7:01. McKenna Kunish, a fourth-grader, placed third in the girls 9-10 age group at 7:59.
Others from Blythe Park participating in the race were Luke Gentile (5th, 7-8, 8:30); A.J. Malloy (9th, 9-10, 7:58); Sean Herbert (12th, 9-10, 8:41); Kate Collins (9th, 11-12, 9:15), Gavin Kunish (5th, 11-12, 6:54), Chris McCoy (8th, 11-12, 7:45); Nick Malone (11th, 11-12, 8:09) and Ben Malone.