Defenders Meet, Elect and Award

The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County held its annual meeting last Saturday, elected officers and bestowed awards.

Pat Dieckhoff is awared the Theta Award by Bill Howenstine.

The Theta Award went to Pat Dieckhoff in recognition of “her years of leadership on behalf of the McHenry County environment at many organizations:

  • the Defenders,
  • McHenry County Schools Environmental Education Program and
  • the Lou Marchi Total  Recycling Institute

The Theta Award is the highest honor the Defenders bestow upon an individual or group for environmental service.

Alice and Bill Howenstine hold their Lifetime Achievement Award.

Alice and Bill Howenstine received a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of “the leadership, inspiration and simply the example they have provided to other people who share their love of the Earth, on how to care for it and how to treat their fellow human beings.”

Cassandra McKinney

Cassandra McKinney accepted the Government Award on behalf of the McHenry County Groundwater Protection Program Task Force.

Cassandra McKinney accepted the Government Award on behalf of the the McHenry County Groundwater Protection Program Task Force. The recognition was given to the many who worked cooperatively to develop the McHenry Groundwater Protection Action Plan to ensure a safe and sustainable supply of fresh water for current and future generations.

Named volunteer of the year for “her unwavering and successful advocacy for inclusion of the clean water needs of our aquatic ecosystems in the Northeastern Illinois Regional Water Supply Plan” was Lynn Rotunno.

Officers for the next year are

  • President Nancy Schietzelt – Crystal Lake
  • 2nd Vice President Joe Starzynski – Woodstock (first VP is currently vacant)
  • Treasurer Jim Wigman – Woodstock
  • Secretary and Board member Suzanne Johnson – Cary
  • Board member Dwight Dalton – Crystal Lake
  • Board member Cynthia Kanner – Algonquin
  • Board member Jim Donato – Woodstock
  • Board member Roy Asplund – Woodstock

Videos of the event can be found here.

The only politicians I discovered were McHenry County Board member Barb Wheeler and county board candidate John Jung.

= = = = =

Photos are from the web site of the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *