2006 Centennial Awards
 

American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago

The immigrant population at the turn of the 20th century in Chicago often lived in overcrowded and meager living conditions -- prime breeding grounds for tuberculosis. In response, the Chicago Tuberculosis Institute was founded in 1906 to combat this disease and care for its victims. The Institute expanded its services to cover all of Cook County in 1938 and enlarged its scope to include all lung disease in the 1950's. Renamed the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago in 1993, the organization's mission is to prevent lung disease and promote lung health through research, advocacy, and education.

Beevar and Son Funeral Home, Inc.

The Chicago Cubs

Chicago History Museum

Chicago Illini Club

Edwardsville Public Library

Friends in Council

Illinois State University

Lincoln Park Zoo

Bosnian Muslim Benevolent Society of Illinois

Oak Ridge Cemetery

Rising Sun Lodge #115

Security Bank of Springfield

The State Journal-Register

TC Industries, Inc.

Women's Club at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

V. Formusa Company, Inc.

Young Women's Christian Association of Decatur and Macon County

The 2006 Centennial Awards Banquet, the Society's 22nd annual celebration of corporate success stories in the Prairie State, was by many accounts one of the best ever. More than 140 guests gathered in the Empire Room at Chicago's Palmer House Hilton hotel to toast the anniversaries of some of the state's oldest businesses and not-for-profit organizations, including the Chicago Cubs (1876), the Lincoln Park Zoo (1868), the Chicago History Museum (1856), the State Journal Register (1831), Oak Ridge Cemetery (1856), the Edwardsville Public Library (1819), the Chicago Illini Club (1876), and more than a dozen others.

In addition to honoring Illinois businesses and not-for-profit corporations celebrating their centennial years in 2006, as well as those achieving their 125th, 150th, and 175th anniversaries, several special awards were given:

The Centennial Committee's "Lifetime Achievement" Award was presented to Captain James A. Lovell, former NASA astronaut and the first man to journey twice to the moon.  Captain Lovell, a retired U.S. Navy pilot who lives in Lake Forest, was a NASA astronaut aboard Gemini 7, Gemini 8, Gemini 12, and Apollo 13.  He was also backup commander for the Gemini 9 and Apollo 11 flights.

 The "Jack Brickhouse Award for Excellence in Broadcast Media" was presented to legendary WGN radio talk-show host Milton Rosenberg. 
Dr. Rosenberg has been the host of "Extension 720," a Chicago-based, two-hour discussion and call-in program, for 33 years.  He has interviewed hundreds of authors on topics ranging from politics to financial investment to religion, "just about everything except pop psychology and poodle-trimming."

The Society was honored to have Secretary of State Jesse White in the audience, who accepted an award for the Chicago Cubs, and, as State Librarian, gave an award to the Edwardsville Public Library, the oldest public library in the state.

The evening opened with a reception sponsored by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. Early in the evening Chamber president and CEO Doug Whitley took the podium to congratulate the Centennial Awardees on their achievements, as did Centennial Awards Committee chairman Norman Berger and ISHS president Marvin W. Ehlers.

Once again, Pat Brickhouse and Jack Taylor introduced each of the Centennial businesses and their representatives, who received a plaque inscribed by Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and President Ehlers.