“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
The New Lake Forest is in transition, and nowhere will that be better reflected than in our “Volunteer/ Leadership Appreciation” event. The first one I attended, years ago had few volunteers and a lot of staff. The few volunteers who were there were volunteers for city functions (e.g., Commissions, Council) and didn’t reflect the broad range of volunteers who help make our City great.
“Only a life lived for others is worth living.” — Albert Einstein
This year I took over as Mayor a little late, so I wasn’t able to re-shape the event in time for this year. Next year I plan to have an event at the Sports Park that will feature ALL our volunteer groups in the City, along with booths where volunteers can share with us what they do and, hopefully, recruit new members. Alas, that must wait for next year. But I was able to make some changes to this year’s program.
"I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.” — Thomas Jefferson
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
This year we will celebrate our volunteer leaders. Instead of a guest speaker who preaches about the joys of volunteering (an excellent example of preaching to the converted), I’m going to ask each group to share with us what they do, what they’ve achieved, and invite people to join them. The groups include
- 4th of July Parade Committee
- STARS
- Senior Advisory Group
- Kiwanis
- Soroptimists
- Pet Adoption Center
- Repitle Rescue
- LF USMC Support Committee
- Chamber of Commerce
- Grab and Go First Responders Support Group
- Sun and Sail Women's Club
- Lake Forest Garden Club
- Friends of the Library
It’s over 100 people and it’s going to fill City Hall so I had to stop adding people to the list. Next year I expect the list to be twice as large which is why we’ll move to the Sports Park.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” — William Shakespeare
What’s interesting to me is that there are some people who serve on more than one group.
- Stan Yombo – Kiwanis and Chamber of Commerce
- Col. Tom Cagley – Council and LF USMC Support Committee
- Larissa Clark - Parade Committee and Recall Committee
- John Irish – Kiwanis and Parade Committee
- Jean Mastropietro - Soroptimists and Parade Committee
- Anne Breuer - Soroptimists, Garden Club, HOA 1 Board
- Tibby Montgomery –Soroptimists and Parade Committee
- Patti Farina - Soroptimists and Parade Committee
- Diane Ealy - Chamber of Commerce and Soroptimists
These people deserve special praise.
My deepest apologies to the hundreds of others who provide leadership to our many non-profit agencies that serve our residents, because I wasn‘t able to fit them in this year. I look forward to next year when we can all get together and celebrate.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest where he serves as Mayor. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His Twitter handle is @DrJimGardner. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.
Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a town hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be May 17 at 7 pm at the Lake 1 Clubhouse (Ridge Route).
