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Inevitably, change occurs every year, and the Kankakee County region had its share of changes in 2024.
From leadership in county government to the YMCA, we saw changes at the top along with the comings and goings in retail, media, music and public events.
With the change comes opportunities for fresh perspectives, new events and business to check out.
Wheeler resigns as county board chairman
Andy Wheeler resigned effective Oct. 22 as Kankakee County Board chairman and from his District 26 seat just before a special board meeting was called to discuss his future on the board.
With a four-fifths (80%) vote of board members, it could have removed Wheeler as chairman. It would have taken 23 of the 28 members to oust Wheeler, whose chairmanship would’ve ended Nov. 30.
In his resignation via email to Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe, Wheeler, in part, wrote:
“Just want to pass along the note regarding the events to be held on October 22. It used to be the day that I and, ironically, my wife were born. Then last year, it became the day I buried my daughter. Now on October 22 it’s the day that I said goodbye to the county I love, and I do so admittedly, with a tear and a smile.”
Wheeler had recently taken a job with Gotion, the Chinese-based company that is preparing to open a lithium battery factory in Manteno. Prior the calling for the special meeting, board member Peggy Sue Munday said that wasn’t the crux of the meeting, but it was on the mind of some board members.
Board members were more concerned that Wheeler wasn’t filling the responsibilities of the chairman’s job.
Wheeler’s resignation ended nearly eight years of his leadership as chairman. Wheeler, who was elected chairman in December 2016, helped guide the county from a deficit of nearly $5 million at the end of 2015 to solvency with a surplus of $3.6 million from 2016 to 2021.
At the end of fiscal year 2023, the county had a surplus of $12.5 million.
Republican member Matthew Alexander-Hildebrand was elected as the new county board chairman in December. Board member Craig Long will serve as vice chairman.
Heitz resigns as executive director of KVPD
After more 12- to 14-hour days than she would care to count in her seven years at the helm of the Kankakee Valley Park District, executive director Dayna Heitz resigned April 1.
Heitz initially gave 60 days’ notice to the board of commissioners, but she later agreed to stay on through the Kankakee River Valley Regatta, which took place during Labor Day weekend
She had a current salary of $114,855.
The park district has a full-time staff of 21 and about 25 part-time employees. When summer programming opens, total employment swells to about 140.
“I’m very sad. It is hard to leave this community. I need to take time for myself and my family,” Heitz said.
Health concerns was a reason Heitz cited that led to her making the decision to resign.
Ross Bruni, of Lockport, was hired on Aug. 25 to replace Heitz. Since February 2018, Bruni had been assistant general manager of the Maggie Daley Park in Chicago. He has been employed in parks and recreation since 2001.
Walters ends tenure as KSD superintendent
As her 10-year tenure as the superintendent of Kankakee schools comes to a close, Genevra Walters is looking toward the future.
At 55 years old, Walters doesn’t give the impression she will be slowing down just because she is retiring from school administration.
She expects she might be “fully retired” in another 10 years, but going from being in charge of 10 schools — which essentially required her to be working or on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week — to putting her feet up and taking it easy doesn’t seem likely.
“It’s going to be hard to just shut it off,” she said.
Walters is currently running for mayor of Kankakee as a Democrat in the upcoming April 1 election against incumbent Republican Chris Curtis.
Teresa Lance, Walters’ replacement, took over on July 1 and comes to Kankakee with nearly 30 years of experience in education.
She’s originally from New York and has lived and worked as far away as Colorado and Maryland. Most recently, Lance was the assistant superintendent of equity and innovation at Elgin Public School District U-46, the second largest district in the state.
Hammond picked as new superintendent at Bradley
The new superintendent of Bradley Elementary School District 61 is no stranger to the area; in fact, he is a school administrator just across town.
The Bradley Elementary School Board unanimously approved the hire of Chris Hammond with a three-year contract. He replaced Scott Goselin, retired at the end of the 2023-24 school year after 19 years as superintendent.
Hammond, 47, has been chief school business official of Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School District 307 for the past 12 years and worked at the high school 24 total years.
“He was so positive and student-focused,” Board President Terrie Golwitzer said regarding why Hammond stood out as a candidate. “We loved that he was local.”
Progress Reporter ends publication
The Momence Progress Reporter, the long-running publication which primarily covered Momence and Grant Park, published its final issue Oct. 30.
The move ends 121 years of newspaper service. The newspaper’s office at 110 W. River St. is for sale.
In the final edition, newspaper publishers Gene and Sue Lincoln, of Momence, who have operated the newspaper for decades, wrote that while rumors had been circulating regarding their retirement, they could now confirm they were closing.
“It’s been a great run; the newspaper is over 120 years old, and some days, it feels like we have been here for all those years, and other days it feels like it was yesterday, but either way, it has been a privilege …” they wrote.
Gilman Star ceases publication
The Gilman Star published its last edition July 31, ending 155 years of covering news in Iroquois County on a weekly basis.
Publisher John Elliott announced the decision in his weekly front-page column “As We See It.”
“I’m sad to see it go,” the 77-year-old Elliott said in a story published by the Ford County Chronicle.
He took over the reins from his father, Henry “George” Elliott, in the mid-1970s upon the retirement of his father.
BTPD hires new executive director
The Bourbonnais Township Park District’s board unanimously approved the hiring and contract for new executive director Mike O’Shea, who has 18 years experience in parks and rec.
O’Shea started his new post May 13.
His starting salary will be $95,000, including incentives of $5,000 after the first six months and another $5,000 after another six months, board President Dave Zinanni said.
“Mike is a good, young person to lead us,” Zinanni said.
The 39-year-old O’Shea has been employed in the park and recreation field in Illinois and Indiana since graduating in 2006 from University of St. Francis at Joliet. He played baseball for the Saints.
Do not refer to Elizabeth Kubal as the Kankakee comptroller any longer.
The 14-year comptroller, who had been the city’s top numbers cruncher since August 2013 and had served in the position under three mayoral administrations, became Kankakee’s first city manager.
Kubal was unanimously approved for the just-created position on July 14.
The Kankakee City Council first created the new position of city manager and several minutes later, the appointment of Kubal to fill the new position was formally approved.
After taking her new seat, Kubal, 47, thanked the council for their support and confidence.
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she said. “I look forward to working with all of you.”
Stefari West Avenue restaurant sold
The Stefari West Avenue restaurant in Kankakee will remain a fixture just west of the Canadian National Railway line, but its ownership changed.
Marci Sadler and Ken Lundquist, part of the Majestic building ownership in downtown Kankakee and the Deer Ridge Barn Wedding & Events banquet facility in Limestone, bought the business.
Sadler and Lundquist took possession of the approximate 2,500-square-foot business on Sept. 30.
The husband-and-wife-team of Stephan and Ari Fruze had operated Stefari Cafe in the Majestic and then expanded and relocated their business as Stefari West Avenue.
They opened Stefari Cafe in the building at 150 N. Schuyler Ave. in July 2017. They relocated and opened a larger restaurant at 267 S. West Ave. in late June 2023.
Welsh leaves Kankakee Area Y after 6 years as CEO
Will Welsh, of Bourbonnais, had been CEO since May 2018 at the Kankakee Area YMCA, and he resigned in mid-July
Prior to serving for six years as CEO at the Kennedy Drive location, Welsh, a 1983 graduate of Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School, had been executive director of the Gateway Region Y in Belleville from 2013-17.
He also served as director of operations for the YMCA in Findlay, Ohio, from 2011-13. From 2004-11, he was executive director of the Paris, Ill., YMCA.
Following the resignation of Welsh, the Kankakee Area YMCA in September welcomed interim CEO John Alexander, who retired in September 2023. He has an extensive history with the YMCA organization.
Alexander, of Terre Haute, Ind., works on site three days a week. A native of Potomac, Ill., he is a graduate of Olivet Nazarene University and spent 12 years as CEO of the Y in Danville, Ill., among other positions.
After 55 years, Roy Brothers Tire & Auto sells
Jim Roy is going to have a little more free time on his hands.
After 55 years as the owner of Roy Brothers Tire & Auto in Kankakee, Roy recently sold the auto repair business that was an independent shop institution — first at the northwest corner of West Station Street and South Washington Avenue for 21 years and then at 855 S. Schuyler Ave. for 34 more years.
“It’s the only thing I know,” said Roy, 77, of Bourbonnais. “When we first went in business, times were tough. You had to build a business. Why I stayed in it for so long, is a good question. I just like what I’m doing. Just when you get older, it catches up to you.”
The six-bay auto repair shop will keep humming along as Kankakee Autoplex, as it was purchased by Logan Outsen, of Limestone. Roy will stay on for a few weeks in the transition that was effective Aug. 1.
Bradley 315 Fest holds 1st music event
The three days of the Bradley’s 315 Music Fest saw more than 14,000 people pass through the four ticket booths at the Northfield Square mall concert site.
Rob Romo, Bradley finance director and the man in charge of collecting gate proceeds, reported Monday that attendance on Thursday, Friday and Saturday came in at 14,178.
Romo said Thursday’s count was 2,222; Friday, 4,961; and Saturday, 6,995.
Bradley invested $330,000 of taxpayer money into securing numerous musical acts, headlined by Big & Rich.
Cork Wine Bar opens
It did not take long for a new business to target the former 10-year home of Grapes & Hops Wine Bar in downtown Kankakee.
Ownership of the Cork Wine Bar, 251 S. Schuyler Ave., opened in November.
Business owners, Brent Manau and Scott Irps, owners of numerous businesses, including Country Chevrolet in Herscher and Burgers & Beer locations, are taking over operation of the site.
They signed a three-year lease.
After an 11-year hiatus, the American Power Boat Association’s Kankakee River Valley Regatta was held Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 on the premier boating portion of the river, in and around the area of the Kankakee Country Club and the Kankakee Valley Boat Club.
The two-day event hosted 60-70 racers in the numerous divisions for the first time since the regatta was last held here on Labor Day weekend in 2013.
For Kankakee native Tim Kraft, the return of the Kankakee River Valley Regatta held special meaning.
“I started racing right here on the Kankakee River,” Tim said. “And the last race here, I met my wife at this boat race.”
Kraft, a 1992 Kankakee High School graduate, began boat racing on the Kankakee River as a kid in 1988 after attending the regatta with his dad, Dave Kraft, who knew some of the racers — the former L&G Marina’s Guimond brothers Jon, Terry and Larry.
https://daily-journal.com/news/local/aroma_park/yir-comings-and-goings/article_6a1c51c6-c6f4-11ef-a71b-d37bd88df9dc.html