Willie Burford became the latest recipient of the Kewanee Chamber Of Commerce Ambassador’s Outstanding Citizen Award during a banquet held Tuesday night at the Flemish-American Club. This year marked a tradition that began 50 years ago.
While the nomination process, announcement of the recipient and award ceremony generates much hoopla today, the first annual award only received coverage in a photo and caption on the city page of the local newspaper. Kewanee businessman Gust “Brick” Lundberg, founder of the Sandy’s fast food restaurant chain, was the first honoree of what was originally called the Outstanding Leadership and Community Service Award, the title shortened over the years to the Outstanding Citizen Award.
Lundberg, who was also instrumental in the founding of Black Hawk College-East Campus, is shown in the photo receiving a large plaque from Jim Golby and Art DeCabooter, chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Ambassadors Club at the time.
A search of newspaper archives revealed that the Ambassador Club was organized in November of 1973 as a public relations and promotional arm of the chamber.
Chamber members made up the group and eventually “club” was dropped from the name. For years, the Ambassadors wore gold jackets for groundbreaking ceremonies, grand openings, and other official functions. That, too, has been changed to a red jacket.
In a conversation with the Kewanee Voice at this year’s banquet, Chamber Executive Vice President Mark Mikenas revealed that the award presentation was also not always conducted as it is today.
“My first year was 1995 and, up until then, the award was presented in what was essentially a closed event for members only,” Mikenas recalled.
Ambassadors would choose a worthy recipient each year, following Lundberg in the next four years with Dr. Fred Stewart, Florence Norman of the Red Cross, W.H Harper of Mail-O-Graph, Robert Glidden of Kewanee Machinery & Conveyor, and the long list goes on.
“In 1995 the recipient was Glen Andris, but he didn’t know it at the time,” Mikenas said. “The dinner was held at the Waunee Farm and Glen thought he was just hosting another meeting of the Ambassador Club until they surprised him with the announcement that he was that year’s Outstanding Citizen.”
Mikenas said he thought the award process from nomination to presentation should be open to the public with primarily the family and friends of the recipient and anyone else who wanted to share the moment able to attend the presentation dinner.
Nominations are now sought through the media each year and the submitted forms reviewed by Ambassadors.
The nominated area of the service should be well-known to the community and include “education, charitable work, business, government, chamber of commerce, senior citizens, youth, disabled, environmental, economic development, community relations or heroic acts.”
The recipient is announced in advance and those wishing to attend may do so with an RSVP to the Chamber. The recipient is allowed to invite the friends and/or family members he or she wishes to have speak about them with the honoree getting the last word.
The award has been presented in all but two of the 50 years since its inception. When COVID locked down the country in March of 2020, Etta LaFlora of the Sunshine Community Center had already been announced as that year’s recipient, but the banquet had to be cancelled. The following year, 2021, gatherings were still prohibited so the Ambassadors decided to honor All essential workers in absentia. By 2022, people could congregate again and the Ambassadors decided on a 2-in-1 banquet honoring a pair of Outstanding Citizens — Mrs. LaFlora, who finally got the chance to have her moment, and Dianne Packee, who was honored that year for her volunteer work with the Prairie Chicken Arts Festival and the Windmont Christmas Lighting Crew.
Willie Burford was honored this year for his compassion and dedication as a funeral director and his tireless service, largely through Kiwanis, where he has served twice as president and will serve once again as president next year.
Among “Brick” Lundberg’s list of contributions to the community in 1976 was serving as president of Kiwanis, an honor now shared with Willie Burford 50 years later.
