Previous Best of Hoffman Winners
Each quarter the Hoffman Estates Park District staff and commissioners review the district’s volunteers and participants, searching for men, women, and children who best exemplify the interests of the park district. These people are then recognized as the Best of Hoffman at a Park Board meeting and presented with a Board proclamation. We are lucky and honored to be affiliated with these individuals. If you would like to nominate someone for this award, contact Cindy Flynn at 847-781-3633.
Interested in volunteering? We’d love to have you! Read more here.
Second Quarter 2023 – Isha Subramanian
Hoffman Estates Park District would like to recognize Isha Subramanian as the Best of Hoffman for the 2nd Quarter 2023.
Isha was selected as the first Student Liaison to the Administration & Finance committee in the Fall of 2022. She has attended almost every meeting over the past year, and has continually shared her feedback and opinions on District policies and events.
The Administration & Finance Committee was a great fit for Isha, as she has been involved in the Business Professionals of America organization through the Hoffman Estates High School. Her time spent with the Board and A&F Committee must have been beneficial, as her team placed in the top three at various State and National competitions for the Parliamentary Procedures team events.
Isha graduated from Hoffman Estates High School this spring, and will be attending the University of Illinois in the fall. We will miss having her at our meetings, but are proud to have such a bright, ambitious young woman representing our community.
The Board of Commissioners for Hoffman Estates Park District is proud to award Isha Subramanian the 2nd Quarter 2023 Best of Hoffman award.
First Quarter 2023 – Oluremi Odediran
Hoffman Estates Park District would like to recognize Oluremi Odediran as the Best of Hoffman for the 1st Quarter 2023.
Oluremi began volunteering at the Triphahn Center in May of 2022. She volunteers two times per week at the north side Front Desk. Oluremi is a very quick learner and she completes all tasks accurately and in a timely manner. We are so lucky to have her helping hand!
Oluremi is very friendly and approachable at the desk. She assists whenever she can, and if she doesn’t have the answer to a question, she will find the answer quickly. She is a wonderful communicator, and is not afraid to ask questions of her supervisor.
Oluremi and her family have also volunteered for several other events, including Winter Wonderland, park clean-up, Earth Day clean-up, seed bombing and public skate. She and her family are greatly appreciated by the HEParks staff!
We thank Oluremi for her dependable and enthusiastic efforts with the service desk and administrative duties, as well as her support of HEParks!
Best of the Best 2022 – Bill and Linda Graba
Selected from all 2022 Best of Hoffman Winners, Bill and Linda continue to lead and organize our senior pickleball enthusiasts. They have been ambassadors for the game of pickleball for many years, and have been instrumental in growing the game in Hoffman Estates. Bill and Linda initially approached the Park District about providing permanent pickleball courts back in 2012, and since then, Fabbrini Park has become a destination for Pickleball tournaments. HEParks has hosted both professional and amateur tournaments, some of which Bill and Linda have helped in recruiting players, as well as planning the events.
Thanks to Bill and Linda’s efforts, pickleball programs at HEParks have grown to include both indoor and outdoor leagues for both seniors and all ages, open play time and private lessons.
Fourth Quarter 2022 – Billy O’Grady
Hoffman Estates Park District would like to recognize Billy O’Grady as the Best of Hoffman for the 4th Quarter 2022.
Billy has been a hockey league participant with the Park District for several years, and is also a part-time employee, helping out with hockey lessons and birthday parties. But what really impresses us about Billy is his willingness to volunteer for multiple events, in addition to his normal responsibilities.
As stated by a staff member, “Billy is a fine young man who’s contributions do not go unnoticed. He volunteers countless hours to make sure he is always putting a smile on children’s faces.”
Billy is a wonderful volunteer who is known to attend Park District community-wide events dressed as Mickey Mouse (he has the voice down perfectly!), the Easter Bunny and even Santa Claus. The children light up when they see him. The Park District is lucky to have a young man making such a positive impact on the children and families in our community.
The Board of Commissioners for Hoffman Estates Park District is proud to award Billy O’Grady the 4th Quarter 2022 Best of Hoffman award.
Third Quarter 2022 – Natalie Lichtenbert
Hoffman Estates Park District would like to recognize Natalie Lichtenbert as the Best of Hoffman for the 3rd Quarter 2022.
Natalie Lichtenbert – Best of Hoffman – 3rd Quarter 2022
Natalie is the co-chair of the Village of Hoffman Estates’ Sustainability Committee, and the Deputy Director of the Illinois Monarch Project. She first reached out to our staff looking for a good place to release the monarch butterflies that she had been breeding and hatching at home.
After this initial meeting, Natalie helped coordinate the BioBlitz event at Black Bear Park. BioBlitz is a nationwide parks challenge to locate and photograph pollinators, like bees and butterflies, as well as flowers, plants and other locally found wildlife and plants. During this event, Natalie spent a considerable amount of time teaching kids about the monarch, milkweed and how the monarch moves and works within the ecosystem.
Since the event, Natalie has reached out to the Park District for help in writing a grant proposal, “Micro Plastics in the Great Lakes”, looking to include educational components within the parks for children.
We thank Natalie for her efforts in environmental conservation and the preservation of the monarch, as well as her support of HEParks!
Second Quarter 2022 – Bill and Linda Graba
Bill and Linda have been ambassadors for the game of pickleball for many years, and have been instrumental in growing the game in Hoffman Estates. Bill and Linda initially approached the Park District about providing permanent pickleball courts at High Point Park (now Fabbrini Park) in 2012, as pickleball was beginning to gain in popularity. Since then, HEParks have provided courts at Charlemagne Park, South Ridge Park, and Cannon Crossings Park.
Fabbrini Park has become a destination for Pickleball tournaments, as HEParks has hosted both professional and amateur tournaments, including the recent Six County Senior Games pickleball events, for which Bill and Linda spent many hours helping to recruit, organize and plan.
The Grabas also recently donated $1,000 to HEParks for the purchase of a storage bin to be placed at the Fabbrini Park courts, to store equipment for the District’s pickleball leagues. Thanks to Bill and Linda’s efforts, pickleball programs at HEParks have grown to include both indoor and outdoor leagues for both seniors and all ages, open play time and private lessons.
We thank Bill and Linda for their continued enthusiasm for the sport of pickleball, as well as their support of HEParks!
First Quarter 2022 – U10 Wolverines Hockey Team
Hoffman Estates Park District would like to recognize the U10 Wolverines hockey team as the Best of Hoffman for the 1st Quarter 2022. The U10 Wolverines is a 13-member hockey team which plays in a co-ed division, but this team is made up of all girls, and they won their division in incredible fashion!
After not knowing if they would have enough girls to form a team, they were able to fill a roster with mostly younger girls and some playing up an age level. The regular season was filled with both wins and losses, but the Wolverines won all three of the tournaments they entered, and finished the season as the winners of the Squirt Division 3 Championship against the boys’ teams. It was exciting for the coaches to see so much improvement in all the players over the course of the season.
The Park District was very proud to hear of the Wolverines’ achievements. Congratulations to Coaches Amber Taitel and Becca Hurst, and to the players: Madison, Gabby, Lauren, Peyton, Elena, Athena, Libby, Charlotte, Umm, Avery, Amabel, Riley and Kendra. Thank you all for representing the Park District with class and enthusiasm!
Best of the Best 2021 – Dr. Thomas Hoover
He writes the questions himself, 20 questions plus 3 tiebreakers each month. He creates the questions from information found in the news (Current events), as well as history books and publications, and he takes the time to try to verify each answer.
Each month, the Pub Trivia night has between 17 and 48 people in attendance, and it tends to be mostly the same group of seniors who truly enjoy each other’s company.
Dr. Hoover lives in Hoffman Estates with his wife, and together they have three children and six grandchildren. Active with the Park District since 1986 when he joined as a fitness member, he stays involved with the senior programming, and also enjoys playing golf, bowling with his wife, and traveling.
We are so thankful for the time, dedication and passion that Dr. Hoover puts into the Pub Trivia nights. Each month, he makes it a fun, challenging and enjoyable evening for everyone in attendance!
Thank you, Dr. Hoover, for making such a positive impact on our Park District programs, our community, and mostly our seniors.
Fourth Quarter 2021 – Christine Christian
Chrissy has been a member of the Village of Hoffman Estates’ Sustainability Commission since 2019, and has been the co-chair of the Commission since 2020. She has a biology and environmental science background and is very active in conservation.
This past fall, Chrissy spoke with Matt Schiller, our Supervisor of Park Grounds, about the possibility of the Sustainability Commission partnering with the Park District to provide an educational element to the Seed Collection event.
After speaking with Matt, Chrissy created an informative, colorful and easy-to-understand infographic, explaining the benefits of seed collecting and natural shorelines. Chrissy feels that if the public is more aware of the need for seed collecting, followed by seed “bombing”, they will be more willing to participate and help to create healthy, less costly and sustainable parks, especially the areas surrounding the lakes and ponds.
The Sustainability Commission is now partnering with the Hoffman Estates Garden Club and Chrissy would like to continue partnering with the Hoffman Estates Park District to continue education and citizen involvement and resources for conservation and native landscapes, including some programming for children during the summer.
Thank you, Chrissy, for making such a positive impact on our Park District and our community!
Third Quarter 2021 – Dr. Thomas Hoover
His idea for starting a Pub Trivia program here at the District stemmed from a trip to England ten years ago, where he experienced a trivia event for the first time. Upon returning to the States, he mentioned the idea to Rica Cuff, our former Senior Program Manager, and Dr. Hoover has been hosting Pub Trivia night ever since.
Dr. Hoover writes the questions himself, 20 questions plus three tiebreakers each month. He creates the questions from current events, as well as history books and publications, and he takes the time to try to verify each answer. Each month, the Pub Trivia night has between 17 and 48 people in attendance.
Dr. Hoover first joined the Park District as a fitness member back in 1986. Today he stays involved with the senior programming, and also enjoys playing golf, bowling with his wife, and traveling whenever he can.
We are so thankful for the time, dedication and passion that Dr. Hoover puts into the Pub Trivia nights. Each month, he makes it a fun, challenging and enjoyable evening for everyone in attendance!
Thank you, Dr. Hoover, for making such a positive impact on our Park District programs, our community and mostly our seniors!
Second Quarter 2021 – The Garbu Family
Silvia and Alexandru Garbu, along with their two children, Laurentiu and Calin, have lived in the Hoffman Estates area for ten years. They are nature lovers, and truly enjoy using all of the parks in the area. Silvia stated “we are blessed, we have a good life, and we want to give back to our community that we care so much about and that offers us so many ways to enjoy nature.” Silvia and Alexandru would like to instill a sense of obligation in their children to participate, volunteer and give back to their community.
As part of the HEParks series of Spring Cleanup events, the Garbu family participated in the Victoria Park Cleanup. During the South Ridge Park Cleanup, Silvia mentioned the volunteer group was small but able to accomplish a full cleanup in a short time. The Garbu family also participated in the Spring Seed Bombing, as well as the Invasive Plant Removal.
Laurentiu is a 17-year-old high school senior, who also works as a lifeguard at the Seascape facility. Calin is nine and enjoys volunteering. The family is interested in participating in additional events in the future.
Thank you, Garbu Family, for your service and for making such a positive impact on our parks and our community.
First Quarter 2021 – Katie Otterness
Katie attended Hoffman Estates High School, where she played basketball and softball. Her passion for sports and the Hoffman Estates community has followed her through the years. She is now heavily involved with the HEParks basketball program, plus her daughter participates in the District’s feeder basketball and in-house leagues through the basketball academy.
Throughout the duration of the pandemic, Katie has kept the girls’ basketball community engaged. She has promoted our camps and clinics to the players, helped create the Wednesday feeder drop-in program, and was head coach for both our 3/4/5-grade girls pod and the 6/7/8-grad girls pod.
Katie is the voice of girls hoops in the Hoffman Estates community and helped provide a great opportunity for all those that participated this season. Thank you, Katie, for your volunteer service and for making a positive impact on the District’s basketball program.
Best of the Best 2020 – Jay Garstecki
In January 2020, our Best of Hoffman recipient was Jay Garstecki. It is a pleasure to announce that Jay Garstecki has been named the Best of the Best of Hoffman for 2020. Jay was chosen from all 2020 Best of Hoffman recipients to receive this honor.
In honor and memory of Faith Hoberg, a 12 year old hockey player with the Wolf Pack club whose life was tragically taken in a car accident, Jay purchased and donated 50 jerseys to the hockey program.
Faith’s entire Wolf Pack team was given a jersey, along with some of Faith’s family members. The remaining jerseys were raffled off and the money collected went into a fund established by a large Hoberg family donation to provide an annual hockey scholarship in Faith’s name.
Jay, we would like to thank you for your generosity and, on behalf of the Park Board of Commissioners and Hoffman Estates Park District, we are presenting you with the 2020 Best of the Best of Hoffman award.
November 2020 – Hoffman Blue
Congratulations on the undefeated season of 17-0 and winning the league title!
While the players have some outstanding statistics to showcase what a great year they had, the greatest thing the players learned from the season was how to respect the sport, their opponent, their teammates, and their coaches. The team truly exemplifies the idea behind baseball being a team sport, and this is what the coaches are most proud of.
The Park District was very proud to hear of the Hoffman Blue’s achievements. The Park District congratulates the Hoffman Blue baseball team on a fantastic year and are presenting them with the November 2020 Best of Hoffman award. Congratulations to Coach Marc, Coach Kevin, Coach Sway, Adrian, Jayden, Carl, Gavin, Kyle, Daniel, Jason, Ryker, Ivan, and Isaiah.
October 2020 – Pauline Wieland
Pauline Wieland receives the October 2020 Best of Hoffman award
Hoffman Estates Park District would like to recognize Pauline Wieland as October’s Best of Hoffman.
As a Hoffman Estates resident residing at Pine Park for approximately 36 years, Pauline has taken the initiative to establish an informal group of volunteers, she has deemed Neighbors for Conservation, to help clean-up invasive plants called buckthorns along the Pine Park creek line.
She worked with Parks District staff to hold two Neighbors for Conservation events at Pine Park, one on September 26 and one on October 3, which allowed volunteers of all ages to help remove the invasive plants.
With the bit of work completed on these two dates, the Neighbors for Conservation were able to complete about 50% of their goal which is to remove all of the buckthorns along the creek line. Pauline is actively working with Parks District staff to arrange dates for November in hopes of completing the reminder of the removal of the buckthorns along the creek line.
Pauline has embraced her new personal motto of “do more and criticize less” in hopes of making a difference in the community and we are very appreciative. Pauline, we would like to thank you for taking the initiative to help clean-up the invasive plants at Pine Park.
August 2020 – Hap Wittkamp
Hap Wittkamp receives the August 2020 Best of Hoffman award
Hoffman Estates Park District would like to recognize Hap Wittkamp as August’s Best of Hoffman.
With over thirteen years of service under his belt, black belt, if you will, our resident martial arts expert, Hap Wittkamp, has resigned from his volunteer position as a Community Representative for the Recreation Committee. While we are sad to see him go and we will miss his presence at our Board and Committee Meetings, we are very grateful for his years of service.
Hap has left a large footprint on the District. In addition to his service as a Community Representative, Hap has been instrumental in the development and success of the senior/50+ program. He and his wife, Jan, truly are the foundation of the program. Even before the 50+ Club was developed, the pair led the district in the creation of an organized senior program – even touring and researching other senior centers to report back on how different agencies operate. They speak on behalf of all the seniors and have the best interest of the seniors in mind when creating and enhancing programs. Hap, we would like to thank you for making such a positive impact in our District!
January 2020 – Jay Garstecki
Jay and his family are members of the Wolfpack/Timberwolves hockey family. After hearing about the loss of one of the members of the hockey family, Jay felt he had to try to help in any way he could because, and I quote, “While our family didn’t know her or her family, the Wolfpack/Timberwolves is our family. We are all ‘hockey families’”. Essentially, we support one another.
In honor and memory of Faith Hoberg, a 12-year-old hockey player with the Wolf Pack club whose life was tragically taken in a car accident, Jay purchased and donated 50 jerseys to the hockey program. Faith’s entire Wolf Pack team was given a jersey, along with some of Faith’s family members. The remaining jerseys are being raffled off and the money collected from each raffle ticket is going into a fund established by a large Hoberg family donation to provide an annual hockey scholarship in Faith’s name. The jerseys will be awarded to the raffle ticket winners on February 8 at 3 pm. Faith’s team will be wearing their purple jerseys at the 4 pm game on this date.
The Board of Commissioners for Hoffman Estates Park District is proud to award Jay Garstecki the January 2020 Best of Hoffman Award.
Best of the Best of Hoffman 2019 – MacArthur Environmental Club
In April 2019, our Best of Hoffman recipient was the MacArthur Environmental Club. It is our pleasure to announce that the MacArthur Environmental Club has been named the Best of the Best of Hoffman for 2019. The Club was chosen from all 2019 Best of Hoffman recipients to receive this honor.
The Environmental Club teamed up with our park district to build a butterfly garden outside of their school to help protect the Monarch Butterfly species. To the students and teachers of the MacArthur Environmental Club, we would like to thank you for making such a positive impact in our community!
December 2019 – Sue Neel
Sue Neel receives the December 2019 Best of Hoffman award from Executive Director Craig Talsma
Hoffman Estates Park District would like to recognize Sue Neel as December’s Best of Hoffman.
Sue served as a Community Representative with the Recreation Committee for seven years starting in 2012. In addition, her footprint was left within the community of Hoffman Estates, thanks to her involvement with the local Scouts program. As a Scout Leader, she was involved in a number of projects with the District. She and her Scout troop helped with the trailer painting project at the parks maintenance building; assisted with clean-up at Vogelei Park; planted a garden at Vogelei Park, and helped with the seed project at Charlemagne Park.
Sue and her family have relocated to warmer weather in the “Grand Canyon State”, Arizona. We are grateful for everything Sue has done for HEParks and the Hoffman Estates Community.
November – none
October 2019 – Mary Ellen Summerville
Mary Ellen began volunteering for HEParks in March of 2019 and quickly became a staple at park district events. With her enthusiast smiles and laughter, she quickly became a favorite of both patrons and staff. In the past few months, she’s been spotted working children’s games at National Kids to Parks Day, helping at HEParks craft tables during summer events, and giving her all at the doggie carnival.
A life-long volunteer, Mary Ellen, says that her favorite things about volunteering are working with people and all of the smiles she receives at events. So far, her favorite HEParks special events have been National Kids to Parks Day and the Doggie Carnival.
A resident of Hoffman Estates, Mary Ellen considers volunteering to be her favorite hobby. She says yes every time the park district needs her to volunteer.
When asked about her favorite volunteering memory she said, “my son used to tell me all the time when he was little, ‘Mommy do you know that if you got paid every time you volunteered; we would be rich’”. She said the response to her son was “Volunteering does make me rich… in the heart.”
September 2019 – Twirling Twisters
The Twirling Twisters were started in 1989 by Stephanie Felber and have been competing at local, state and national levels ever since.
With the awesome coaching by Stephanie Felber and Jaclynn Avner, the Twirling Twisters won State in July, and then competed at the America’s Youth on Parade Baton Twirling Competition held at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. They competed against twirlers from all over the country and won the Juvenile Corps with Props division, becoming national champions!
The team also placed in 11 of 15 other team events and many girls placed in their individual events too.
Congratulations to the Twirling Twisters for your first place win at at Notre Dame. We are very proud of each of you: Maggie, Karolina, Delaney, Lilly, Jennelle, Anna, Lilly, Vynessa, Kristina, Emily, Taylor, Samantha, Lilly, Addison, Regan, Coach Stephanie and Asst. Coach Jaclynn! This was a tremendous accomplishment.
August 2019 – Coach Mallory Whalen
Over the past six years, Coach Mallory has served the community as a head soccer coach for 1st through 6th graders. Season after season, Mallory has been a great example of what we look for in a volunteer coach.
By becoming a coach, you have chosen to work with young athletes. You have chosen to guide them through the trials and tribulations of learning TWO games: Sports and Life. You are in a position to change their lives forever, not only by making them better athletes, but better people. You are a leader, you are a role model, you are a person who serves your athletes, and you are a person to whom they entrust their physical and emotional well-being.
Enthusiastic, caring and fair are just a few words to describe Mallory. Mallory is yet another soccer coach whose players are constantly asking to be on her team. Whether they are winning or losing, they are always having a great time on the field. Many times Mallory has coached multiple teams in the same season. Her dedication to the kids and the teams is something really special.
July 2019 – Coach Angela & Cory Wallace
Over the past decade, they have served the community as Soccer coaches and Wolf Pack coaches. Each Season our Athletic Department is flooded with requests from families to be on the team the Wallace’s are coaching. Their enthusiasm for coaching is evident in the way they put players first by providing everyone with equal opportunity play and invoke positive teamwork and sportsmanship between families.
June 2019 – Cub Scouts
Pack 297 consists of 63 Cub Scouts and their families. Over the past months these young leaders of tomorrow have completed a variety of projects.
This month we’re recognizing the Bears, Tigers and Wolves. This group completed the seed collection event last fall, collecting seeds from native species at Charlemagne. This spring they took those collected seeds and converted them into seed bombs by combining seeds with clay and throwing the seed/clay ball into the native areas at Charlemagne.
This process is important to the district to continue to beautify our shorelines and there is no better way than using species that are already in the shoreline. So thank you very much to each of you!
May 2019 – Cub Scouts
Pack 297 consists of 63 Cub Scouts and their families. We have scouts from several schools in our area including, MacArthur International Spanish Academy, Winston Churchill Elementary, Armstrong Elementary, Timber Trails Elementary, and John Muir Literacy Academy. Pack 297 was first chartered in 1967 and has provided the Cub Scouting program to hundreds of youth in Hoffman Estates.
Over the past months these young leaders of tomorrow have completed a variety of projects. The Lions and Webelos have directly completed a trailer painting project at the parks maintenance building where they were learning about preventative maintenance. This group then completed our first community garden at Vogelei, where the produce will be donated to local food shelves. We cannot thank them enough for their exemplary contribution to the community and look forward to many more programs together.
April 2019
The Environmental Club from MacArthur School has made a positive impact in our community and epitomizes The Best of Hoffman. This past fall, they reached out to the park district about the possibility of teaming together to build a butterfly garden outside of their school to help protect the Monarch Butterfly species. The park district was excited to work with the Environmental Club and advocate for positive change within the local environment. After discussion, it was agreed that the butterfly garden would be located on the west side of MacArthur School, just north of the playground. The Environmental Club jumped into action and began planting fescue seeds, pollinator plants and butterfly weed. The students also designed the sign that will be placed at the butterfly garden.
March 2019 – Redhawk’s Junior Varsity Cheer Squad
The The Hoffman Redhawk’s Junior Varsity Cheer Squad are no strangers when it comes to receiving the Best of Hoffman award! In 2016, The Junior Varsity Cheer Squad finished the season as a National Champion runner-up placing 2nd at the National championship. The Junior Varsity Cheer Squad had a couple of fantastic seasons once again. After placing 3rd in the Chicagoland conference, they came back to win 1st PLACE at the Regional competition, qualifying them for Pop Warner Nationals in Disney World. They defended their title and brought home a BACK TO BACK 1st PLACE CHAMPIONSHIP for first time in Hoffman Redhawk’s history. We are very proud of their accomplishments.
February 2019 – Coach Benji Gallardo
Coach Benji Gallardo has been a dedicated coach for HE Parks since 2015. Coach Benji has coached the in-house basketball league at HE Parks for both the Winter and Summer leagues where his two sons have played throughout the years. Coach Benji has a great rapport with the kids, using a unique combination of quality knowledge of the game, coupled with a goal to make sure all the kids are having fun. Coach Benji has also been voted on by his peers to represent teams in the annual in-house all-star games. You will see Coach Benji do most of his coaching calmly from the bench, but when the excitement of the game inspires him, you will hear Benji encouraging the team to “shoot it!”, especially if there is a 3-point potential!
Best of the Best 2018: Craig Hartman
In August, Craig Hartman, an owner of Bar Down Sports Grill hosted a fantastic Wolf Pack, Coyote, Wolverine fundraiser at his Hoffman Estates establishment. To add to the excitement, his son Ryan, (former Blackhawk, now Nashville Predator) attended the fundraiser to meet and greet the crowd that attended.
Through various fundraising events, $550 was raised in which Craig matched the amount to donate a total of $1,100 to the house and travel hockey programs. Since the beginning of the season, various HE Parks’ teams and their families have made Craig’s sports grill an after-event destination and have enjoyed excellent food and service from Craig and his staff. Craig provides a great opportunity for our hockey players to play shinny hockey or partake in bowling which allows the adults to relax and get to know each other while the kids have a great time with their friends. So once again, we would like to thank Craig for making such an impact in the lives of our hockey members.
December 2018- Ed and Dalia Holmes
This month’s Best of Hoffman recipients are Ed (not pictured) and Dalia Holmes. The Holmes family has been a staple in Hoffman Estates Park District Youth Sport Leagues since 2013.
Throughout the year, you will see Ed and Dalia coaching multiple teams for our youth baseball and youth basketball leagues on both the girls and boys sides. When players register with HE Parks at the front desk, there are countless requests for Ed or Dalia to be the head coach for their sons or daughter for the upcoming season.
Ed and Dalia have also helped grow our athletic programs through camps and events. This past spring Ed and Dalia helped run the USA basketball open court program that allowed residents to come in and play basketball in a controlled environment for free.
You can also see Ed and Dalia at all of our All-Star game events. Not because they volunteer, but because their peers always voted them to represent their players in the game.
This past basketball season Ed and Dalia have taken on a much larger volunteer role in running our girls feeder basketball program. On top of coaching a team, they also help schedule practice space, find tournaments/leagues for the girls to play in and work closely with the high school coaches on the philosophies of the program. Without Ed and Dalia our youth athletics would not be where they are today.
November 2018 – Craig Hartman
On August 29, Craig Hartman, partner with the Bar Down Sports Grill hosted a fantastic Wolf Pack, Coyote, Wolverine fundraiser at his Hoffman Estates establishment. To add to the excitement, his son Ryan, (former Blackhawk, now Nashville Predator) attended the fundraiser to meet and greet the crowd that attended.
Through various fundraising events, $550 was raised in which Craig matched the amount to donate a total of $1,100 to the house and travel hockey programs.
Since the beginning of the season, various HE Parks’ teams and their families have made Craig’s sports grill an after-event destination and have enjoyed excellent food and service from Craig and his staff. Craig provides a great opportunity for our hockey players to play shinny hockey or partake in bowling which allows the adults to relax and get to know each other while the kids have a great time with their friends.
October 2018 – Officer John Bending
Officer Bending serves on the Hoffman Estates Police Department. For the park district, he has volunteered his time to help as a presenter and educator for the children and staff in our child care programs. When he visits our preschoolers in the Early Learning and Care Program, he reads them a book and gets down on their level to make them feel comfortable. Sometimes he has let the children check out his squad car. Officer Bending has also visited our STAR Before and After School Care program to address topics such as bullying and personal safety. Over the summer he visited our Teen Camps to address some tough topics in a fun way. He has also available to answer questions for our staff; he is always just an email away.
September – none
August 2018 – Chris “Alexander” Blackshear
Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America. The designation Eagle Scout was founded over one hundred years ago. Only four percent of Boy Scouts are granted this rank after a lengthy review process. The requirements necessary to achieve this rank take years to fulfill. Requirements include earning at least 21 merit badges. The Eagle Scout must demonstrate Scout Spirit, an ideal attitude based upon the Scout Oath and Law, service, and leadership. This includes an extensive service project that the Scout plans, organizes, leads, and manages. We are proud to recognize Eagle Scout Chris “Alexander” Blackshear as one of this month’s Best of Hoffman recipients. Alexander was instrumental in the creation of our Chino Park community gardens, which provides gardening opportunities for those residents who do not have the resources to plant a garden. Thanks to Alexander’s hard work and dedication, our community garden at Chino Park is up and running with 16 garden plots with a wood chip path between each of the plots plus four additional ADA accessible plots.
August 2018 – Coach Matt Schultz
This month’s Best of Hoffman recipient, Matt Schultz, has been positively impacting our community for quite some time. Matt is a Hoffman resident and Volunteer Coach for both our Pinto and Mustang baseball leagues at the Hoffman Estates Park District. Matt began coaching for us three years ago and this season agreed to take on coaching a Mustang league in conjunction with his Pinto spring league in an effort to see both leagues play. His dedication to both teams and to the park district has been outstanding. His commitment, leadership, sportsmanship, and coaching has been much appreciated. He’s always positive; never making any of his team players feel anything less than an important part of the team. He knows how to bring fun to the ball field, without making it too competitive and still teaching the fundamentals of baseball to his teams. When he’s not coaching the kids on the field or at a game, he’s created “baseball” fun by bringing his teams together for a baseball movie afternoon, fun at the batting cages or after game day ice cream at local ice cream venues.
July 2018 – Eagle Scout Xavier Vazquez
Back in the spring, the Park District was approached by Xavier Vazquez about the possibility of completing his Eagle Scout projects at HE Parks. It was decided that constructing a Monarch butterfly garden would be a valuable project to the environment and a great addition to our park district. Xavier’s project will allow HE Parks to help in the efforts to save the Monarch butterfly. Xavier was responsible for fundraising as part of the project completion requirements. The garden is now complete and is located on the north end of Willow Recreation Center between the tot lot and the tennis courts.
June 2018 – Volunteers George Bedell and Larry Stone
George and Larry are members of our 50+ center and love to play volleyball. But they also donate their time to help out our foundation, the Friends of HE Parks, which is the charitable arm of the park district. George has volunteered for the Scott R. Triphahn Celebri-Tee Golf Outing for the past three years and Larry for the past two years. They make a terrific pair out on the golf hole selling raffle tickets for the event’s fabulous prizes. In 2017 Friends of HE Parks volunteers sold $2,150 in raffle tickets on 4 holes. This year they sold $2,490 on just 3 holes with George and Larry selling more than 3,000 of those raffle tickets and raising over $1,000 on their hole #7. They definitely set a record!
June 2018 – REALTORs of RE/MAX Suburban and the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORs
In the fall of 2016, the park district was approached by one of our Community Representatives Linda Dressler, who is also a local REALTOR at RE/MAX Suburban, regarding a community-based grant program established by the National Association of REALTORS.
The park district received a grant in the amount of $3,500 for the Chino Park garden plots from the National Association of Realtors.
To show our appreciation, a plaque will be installed, similar to this one, within community gardens at Chino Park acknowledging Linda Dressler and RE/MAX Suburban and the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS for making these gardens a possibility within our community.
May 2018 – Hoffman Stars Dance Company
The Hoffman Stars Dance Company was formed in 2004. This program allowed dancers to take more classes at a time and enhance their dance skills in multiple forms of dance at a faster pace. In 2009 the company began competing in local park district competitions. They have since moved up to the intermediate level of dance in Regional competitions that take place all over the US. Under the direction of Kelsey Nebl, Laura Sue Jensen, Melissa Baxter and Shannan Pelayo, the dancers have participated in 4 competitions in Illinois and 1 in Wisconsin this year. They have received high awards in all of their competitions. The company members also perform at the annual dance recital, Winter Showcase, Winter Fest and have danced at the Chicago Wolves Game and Schaumburg Boomers. The dancers and teachers are looking forward to finishing out their 2018 season at this weekend’s dance recital at Hoffman Estates High School. The teachers and dancers have worked extremely hard this year and are looking forward to a great recital and a nice break before the summer session begins.
April – none
March 2018 – Enid McEvilly
Enid McEvilly has been part of the Hoffman Estates Park District family for many years. Her kids have been enrolled in our Early Learning and Care (ELC) and school days off programs. Enid, a Dental Hygienist, began giving presentations on healthy dental habits for the kids in the ELC. She was happy to help out, and her programs were engaging and informative. So much so, that the teachers continue to request her presentations even though her own children are now in grade school. We truly appreciate Enid’s willingness to use her own personal time to give these healthy tooth talks to our youngest students- which are valuable lessons that can last a lifetime. Thank you for volunteering your time to teach our kids how to keep their healthy smiles!
February 2018 – Royce Schwartz
Royce Schwartz began the 50+ Center’s Pinterest Crafting Club. She leads the crafting club two times a month in various different crafting projects. There’s been a lot of interest in this club and it continues to grow with her enthusiasm and passion for making crafts. Mindi and the group have come to really adore her and her talents. In addition to leading the 50+ Crafting Club, she also leads our new weekly 50+ Bunco group on Wednesday afternoons. Thank you, Royce!
January – none
Best of the Best 2017: Heather Kubinski
Heather was chosen from all 2017 Best of Hoffman recipients to receive this honor. Last year, when Heather was shopping at Jewel, she noticed on her receipt a contest to win a $500 Jewel gift card and a $20,000 grant to a local hockey rink of her choice. So, she entered the sweepstakes! Lucky for us, she chose the Hoffman Estates Park District’s ice rink because her children used to ice skate here when they were younger.
A few months later, Heather received an email stating that she had won. She received her $500 Jewel gift card and HE Parks received a $20,000 grant for our Wolf Pack Hockey Development Program. The grant was used for new hockey equipment, teaching equipment for the hockey lessons program, assisting families with financial needs, and grassroots development in the game of hockey. Her act of kindness has made a difference in the lives of many hockey players and their families.
