Time to Recognize the Real Mr. and Mrs. Smith

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Robert, Superintendent of Facilities at the Winnetka Park District, was honored with a resolution in front of the Winnetka Board of Directors for his work with Winnetka Park District’s new Park Service Center.  The PSC was recently awarded the LEED Gold Level certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.  This is the first LEED public facility in Winnetka. LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies intended to improve performance in energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

Kelly, Superintendent of Recreation at the Morton Grove Park District, was honored with a plaque in front of the Morton Grove Board of Directors for her work as the Chair of the IPRA 2010 BMW Championship Committee effort.  Kelly helped coordinate the efforts of the IPRA committee that supervised over 600 volunteers that provided nearly 11,000 hours of volunteer service.  The funds raised through this effort benefited IPRA and the Evans Scholars Foundation.  The Evans Scholars Foundation raises millions of dollars annually to provide college scholarships to caddies.

Robert and Kelly were aware that the other would be receiving recognition at their respective Board meetings, but since the meetings were being conducted at the same time, they were not able to attend each other’s meetings.  They were not aware that they would be receiving awards themselves and so were both shocked to receive recognition for their efforts.

Congratulations to the honored Mr. and Mrs. Smith of Illinois parks and recreation, Robert and Kelly.  Thank you for your contributions to the field of parks and recreation.  May you both continue to lead lives filled with surprises.  Just please do not surprise each other with being hired assassins, leave that to Brad and Angelina. 

--Mike Selep, CPRP, IPRA Interim CEO