Eion Fitzgerald, a 7th grader at Bernotos Middle School (the old North Junior High School next to St. Thomas Church), was “Mayor for a Day” on Tuesday night.
He ran the beginning of the meeting with very little coaching from Mayor Aaron Shepley and, then, had the perseverance to sit through virtually the whole meeting.
Fitzgerald was there for both the first and second presentations of McHenry County College President Walt Packard.
>I’m not sure if he left before or after Crystal Lake Park Board President Mike Zellman made his pitch to open discussions to include the park district, along with the City of Crystal Lake and the Village of Lakewood on the Lake Safety Agreement Board.
If this were one of the “Back to the Future” movies, we might fast-forward and find a real Mayor Fitzgerald conducting the meeting at which MCC were actually presenting a site plan to develop the 57 acres that it voted in another room to buy.
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The top photo is of Bernotos Middle School 6th grader Eion Fitzgerald being introduced as Crystal Lake Mayor for a Day by Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley.
Next, we see the two mayors conferring.
A closer view of the young man observing testimony on a zoning request follows.
At the bottom is Mayor Shepley presenting Fitzgerald with a framed recognition of his experience.
Eion’s mother writes she “won Mayor for a Day at the North Elementary School Fundraiser. I thought it would be an interesting way for Eion to learn about local government.
“Eion is a 6th grader at Bernotas Middle School and a member of Boy Scout Troop 127. He is currently working on his Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge. One of the requirements is to attend a city council meeting and another is to interview a person in government. He was able to do both last night.
“He really enjoyed himself and wanted to stay until the end to hear about the Vulcan Lakes issue. I said he needed some sleep before ISAT testing in the morning so we left before the meeting adjourned. Even though he won’t be mayor he wants to go to another meeting in the future.
“Everyone was so wonderful to Eion. Our family was given tours of the police, fire and public works departments. We were all impressed with the the facilities, technology and above all the professionalism of everyone we met.”