Decades of service leads to honor for Marengo park volunteer

Vera Rimnac received an official resolution from the Marengo Park District board this month marking her 90th birthday and more than three decades of service to the community.

Rimnac, a volunteer, Marengo Park District Foundation trustee and Women’s Recreation Association adviser, is an “invaluable asset to the residents of the Marengo Park District,” serving as an instructor, friend and community servant having a “never say no” attitude, according to the resolution.

The park board also is installing a park bench in Rimnac’s honor at Indian Oaks Park.

The resolution wraps up with: “Ms. Rimnac, may you have all the love your heart can hold, all the happiness a day can bring and all the blessings a life can unfold. Happy birthday!”

And congratulations, Vera.

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SUPPORT FOR AUTISM: The Alexander Leigh Center for Autism in McHenry, a year-round day school that offers services to youth with autism, is hosting it 17th annual gala to help raise funds for its school and students starting at 5 p.m. March 11 at the ELARA Convention Center (Holiday Inn), 800 S. Route 31, Crystal Lake.

The event includes an evening of cocktails, silent/live auctions, a plated dinner and games. Proceeds support programs for students.

You can get more details and tickets at www.aesbid.com/elp/alca23.

The Alexander Leigh Center for Autism is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, full-day, year-round therapeutic day school approved by the Illinois State Board of Education for those ages 3 to 21 with autism spectrum disorder, other health impairments as well as developmental delay and/or intellectual disability.

ALCA’s mission is to provide an environment where children on the autism spectrum can develop their full potential and gain functional independence.

MEETING A BLACKHAWK: Last week, I asked readers to share encounters with famous people they have met in McHenry County. Regular Northwest Herald letters to the editor writer Charles Berndt of McHenry shared his encounter with Chicago Blackhawks great Jeremy Roenick.

“[Roenick] made an appearance at Half Time Bar & Grill in Johnsburg in 2019,” Berndt wrote. “I had won his Coors Light contest (10 winners only) and got free tickets to a Blackhawks hockey game in the United Center in the Coors/Miller suite with all the food and drink you could handle. I heard he was coming to Half Time, so I went and walked up to him with the autographed stick in my hand and he yelled out, ‘You won my contest didn’t you?’ I replied ‘Yes, I did.’ So I got my picture taken with him and the autographed stick in between us.”

If you also have had an encounter with a celebrity in McHenry County, please share your story with me.

• Dennis Anderson, vice president of news and content development for Shaw Media, lives in Crystal Lake. He’s looking to share news about you and your neighbors and special events and happenings in McHenry County. Share your Community Exchange news with him at danderson@shawmedia.com.