Back in 1969, Bill Kiddle would drive around Buffalo Grove alongside others, using a bullhorn to promote the idea of starting a park district in the village, he recently recalled.
The public relations campaign equated the start-up costs of a park district to the price of a pizza each year. And residents eventually listened, funding the creation of the Buffalo Grove District.
On Sept. 26, current park district board members recognized Kiddle’s contributions to the district by naming a new shelter in front of the Alcott Center after him. Kiddle, 84, recalled wanting to start a park district because his oldest son, Scott, wanted a place to play baseball.
Kiddle would serve the district for 12 years and go on to serve the community in other ways. Lately, his arthritis has forced some changes, he noted.
For the dedication ceremony, he couldn’t jog from his house to the Alcott Center, Kiddle explained. His wife, Patricia, had to drive him.
Q: Kids carry infinite entertainment in their pockets today, but they still want to go outside and swing on monkey bars. How does it feel to see that what you helped build is still growing?
A: We feel ourselves singularly blessed that that has transpired. I was watching on Saturday a football game. It was from the Big House (University of Michigan), as they call it, up in Michigan. There have been more than 100 consecutive games that the university has played there before an audience of more than 100,000 people. In Buffalo Grove, we don’t have anything of that size, but it’s going to grow. We have people who really want to be outside.
Q: Residential construction is coming back to this area, but the proposals are all population-dense. You’ve spoken about the importance of not letting every block get stuffed with homes, but what is the right balance between residence, recreation and business?
A: There’s an equation — and I can’t remember what it is — where you’ve got to have so many square feet of open space for each person moving in. It’s like designing a parking lot. You’ve got to spend some money, you’ve got to do some research. You can’t put shanties one on top of another.
Q: You’ve spoken about the things you’d like to do, but your body can’t anymore. What do you do with your mind and your energy when your body can’t keep up?
A: I can sit here in this chair. I don’t have to get up, and there’s no pain in my leg, so it’s not so bad. What I do is just enter a new phase, a new chapter if you will, and there’s a lot of things I can do. I’m working on a chart because I’m going to be in a Bible-study group over there in Wheeling. Everybody knows that, at some point in time, you’re going to have to call it retirement.
Shout Out is a weekly feature in which we introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago.
More Top Picks Best Glider Chairs For Nursery
Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer