Mask chosen as Grand Marshal for Fulton’s 2025 Dutch Days Festival

FULTON — Barb Mask has been chosen as the Grand Marshal for the 2025 Dutch Days Festival set for May 2-3.

Mask, who will celebrate her 84th birthday in June, has lived in Fulton for 79 of those years. Her mother’s family immigrated to this area from Warffum in the province of Groningen in 1881.

Her mother went to Chicago to work and met a young man who immigrated to Chicago from the same village. They married and moved their family to Fulton, where Mask grew up as a Vander Bleek with two older brothers, Clarence and Dave.

Her work ethic was formed working in the businesses her parents owned – The Dutch Boy Restaurant and The Dutch Boy Greenhouses. As a teenager, she had a tomato delivery route in Chicago. She graduated from Fulton High School, Marycrest College and completed her master’s degree in 1972.

She married William Mask in 1965, and they raised their three children, Shane, Shawn and Amber, in Fulton. Their home was a welcoming place for their children’s friends, neighborhood kids, the Vander Bleek nieces and nephews, and an AFS student who was from the Netherlands. Her husband was tragically killed in a car accident in 1994.

While caring for her family, Mask held a variety of jobs. She started as a teacher in Thomson, taught at a Job Corps Center in Clinton, was a licensed social worker at Harbor Crest, and then worked as a licensed nursing home administrator. She retired as executive director of the Illini Hospital Nursing Home Corp.

While raising their family and establishing her career, she was actively involved in many Fulton organizations.

“Some of my earliest memories are of both my parents being active contributors to the Fulton community,” her daughter Amber said.

Mask served on the River Bend School Board for 12 years and was the first woman to be president. In 1985, she attended a seminar about foundations and recognized the ways a foundation can enhance education.

Out of that experience, the River Bend Education Foundation was born. The Foundation has provided the RBSD with thousands of dollars over the past 40 years. She has served as president and is currently vice president of the foundation.

In the 1970s, while working as a social worker at Harbor Crest, she learned of a need for transportation for senior citizens. Her can-do attitude made the purchase of a senior citizen bus a reality. Many Fulton residents could regain some independence and keep appointments, shop and meet friends because she spearheaded the project.

In 1974, she founded the Fulton Book Club and became chair of the Dutch Days festival in 1978.

She joined with seven others in 1995 to create the Fulton Historical Society. This group saw the value of preserving the history of Fulton and wanted to assist people who were interested in learning about their genealogy.

She worships at the Christ Episcopal Church in Clinton where she has taught Sunday School and has been a lay reader for many years.

She has served as a township trustee for five years and is currently serving her third term on the Fulton City Council.

Some of her other awards include:

• Gov. Dan Walker’s Outstanding Public Service Award in 1977 for her work as co-chair for the bicentennial celebration and for her work to procure the bus for senior citizens.
• YWCA Woman of Achievement in 1978
• Marycrest College Outstanding Alumni Award for public service in 1996
• Fulton Kiwanis Club Volunteer of the Year in 2015