Ladd projects are recognized at Governor's Home Town Awards

LADD — A group of 17 people headed down to Springfield last month, and brought home plaques and road signs honoring Ladd volunteers.

Ladd Mayor Mike Grivetti and former Ladd Community Improvement Association President Gary Marini, accompanied by Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, and a group of volunteers attended the 27th annual Governor’s Home Town Award ceremony on Oct. 20. The volunteers were honored for their efforts in restoring the 1919 World War I monument in the village’s Veterans Park and in the installation of two adjoining monuments naming all the veterans who ever lived in the Ladd School District.

Marini called the experience “awesome.”

“There were so many great projects,” he said. “I am just so proud of our project, and it was great to see all the projects and know we were picked.”

Forty-nine projects received the Governor’s Home Town Award, but eight of them, including Marini’s project, were also chosen as finalists for the Governor’s Cup, a traveling silver trophy presented to the community whose efforts are deemed most representative of the spirit of Illinois volunteerism. The winner of the Governor’s Cup winner was the Mundelein’s After School Coalition.

The Governor’s Home Town Awards recognizes those individuals who give of themselves to make their communities better.

“Their actions help to instill pride in our neighborhoods, strengthen our communities and improve the overall quality of life,” Blagojevich said. “These individuals often don’t get the recognition they deserve, but their efforts are critical in helping to make Illinois a better place to live and work.”

For Marini, all the credit for the project should go to the volunteers who worked so hard, and to Grivetti for his leadership.

“I credit everything to Mike,” Marini said. “He’s an incredible guy, and it’s great to know somebody who cares so much.”

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