Homer Glen Honors Big Tree Champions, Nature Award Winners

HOMER GLEN, IL — The Village of Homer Glen celebrated its Community and Nature in Harmony and Big Tree Champion award winners at its board meeting on Wednesday.

The village created the community and nature awards in 2002, said Trustee Ruben Pazmino, who read the presentation of awards. For the awards, the village recognizes individuals, business, community organizations and governmental agencies that have demonstrated a commitment to the environment and have contributed to community pride through preservation, restoration and beautification of land in Homer Glen, he said.

Award winners include:

• Mike De Vivo, for contributing to the formation and incorporation of the village and supporting environmental projects and events for 20 years. De Vivo died earlier this year.
• Harry Abramowicz, for his efforts in restoring and refurbishing the Pebble Creek subdivision sign.
• Inga Carbonara, for restoring and refurbishing the Meadowview Estates subdivision entrance sign.
• The Gewerth family, for creating an established garden with over 300 varieties of plants.
• The Mueller family, for their garden with a plant selection that provides year-long color, variety and places to sit and enjoy nature.
• John and Kimberly Pady, for planting their pollinator garden.
• Jon and Sonya Pederson, for their garden at the entrance to their home, which adds curb appeal to their neighborhood.
• Thomas Rejczak, for planting various evergreen trees in his front yard.
• Sandy Vail, for creating a sunSHINE garden which mixes annuals, perennials and conifers.
• Kenwood Liquors, for promoting reusable plastic bags in their business.
• Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church, for their long-term maintenance of the prairie garden on church grounds.
• Nicole and Dominic Bellantuono, for removing invasive plants from 4 acres and seeding the land with native plant seeds.
• Patrick and Christina Moroney, for their backyard garden.
• Homer Glen Bell Plaza development, for beautification of major roadway corridors with landscaping installed at 143rd Street and Bell Road.

It was also the third year for the Big Tree Champion contest in Homer Glen.

Pazmino said six new trees were added to the Big Tree Champion list. For this contest, the Village searches for the biggest trees in town, and accepts nominations for various species. The trees are then measured, and the largest of each species recognized.

Pazmino said residents found a larger Norway spruce tree and an ash tree in this year's contest.

"This is an important award that recognizes the need to appreciate and protect the natural environment within the village of Homer Glen," Pazmino said.

Awards included:

• Robert and Barbara Newman, identified a white mulberry tree with a circumference of 73.5 inches
• Joe and Christina Fornell, identified an ash tree with a circumference of 91 inches
• Francine Anderson, identified a locust tree with a circumference of 89 inches
• The Barnett family, identified a Norway spruce tree with a circumference of 100 inches and a Catalpa tree with a circumference of 119 inches
• The Mureno family, identified a Norway maple with a circumference of 69 inches

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