NORTHBROOK — As a young girl, playing in the park or heading to the swimming pool in the summer was an important part of Penny Randel’s life.
As an adult, parks and recreation are a passion for Randel, a Northbrook resident, evolving into more than 30 years of activism helping the community enjoy more and more facilities of the Northbrook Park District.
Randel’s accomplishments were recognized with the Illinois Association of Park Districts’ Mike Cassidy Commissioner Community Service Award Jan. 20 in Chicago for her 24 years in elective office and activism before that.
Northbrook Park District Commissioner Penny Randel (center) receives the Michael Cassidy Commissioner Community Service Award from Peter Murphy (left), the executive director of the Illinois Association of Park Districts, and Ken Collins, the 2016 IAPD president. Photo courtesy of Northbrook Park District.
A member of the Park District Board of Commissioners since 1993, Randel is finishing her sixth term. She is running unopposed for a seventh in the April 4 election.
The award is given annually to an elected park commissioner who has gone out of his or her way to improve the quality of life in the community, according to the IAPD website. That commitment began for Randel not long after she moved to Northbrook in 1979.
“There was a referendum to purchase the (former) Indian Ridge School and I got involved with that,” said Randel. That building now houses the Leisure Center, which also contains the Senior Center.
An attachment to recreation started for Randel long before she moved to Northbrook. It began when she was a girl. She said park activities were a key part of her life from the start.
“It was an important part of my growing up,” said Randel. “I was always playing on the play grounds and going to the pool in the summer. I played softball and went to day camp.”
When Randel was young, things like camps and sports were not a major part of park programs. She said she has seen the mission of parks and recreation change over the years and the park district has evolved with the transition.
“It used to be more about pure recreation but today the focus is on health and wellness,” said Randel. “People are more concerned about what’s around them now. When I was young no one wore a bicycle helmet. Now everybody wears them.”
Randel said the transition has brought more services to the community for people at all stages of life. It starts with activities to help parents and babies bond and continues with senior programs for both the active and passive.
“It’s cradle to grave,” said Randel. “We have a lot more services for the community. It starts with Mommy and Me when (the children) are infants. We have senior programs for those who are active and for those more relaxed.
Activism pushing referendums to expand the park district continued for Randel once she was elected to the board in 1993. She said one of her proudest accomplishments was the acquisition of 60 acres from the Anetsberger family in 2000. The land eventually became part of Techny Prairie Park and Fields.
“Joe Doud had a handshake agreement with the Anetsberger brothers that if they wanted to sell the land (where their restaurant equipment business was located) the park district would get the first chance,” said Randel. Doud was the executive director then. “Eventually we decided we better write it down but it was a handshake agreement among men.”
After another successful referendum, Randel said there was a lot of work to get the park ready to open six years later. The former industrial site needed environmental cleanup before the turf fields, ball fields, batting cages, a natural preserve and more were ready for public use. The final OK on the environmental cleanup was even more recent.
“We finally got our NFR letter,” said Randel referring to correspondence informing the park district no further environmental remediation was needed. “You can eat off the floor.”
Hired in 1958, Doud was the first paid executive director of the park district. He retired in 1998, according to Ann Ziolkowski, the district’s director of marketing and communications. She said there have been three more since.
“I’ve served under all four,” said Randel.
Penny Randel helps out at the finish line of Northbrook’s annual Liberty Loop Run. Photo courtesy of Northbrook Park District.