Hall of Fame Guidelines

Nominations by the Board of Directors

1. Nominations of one or two people to be inducted will be made by the Park Forest Historical Society Board of Directors each year. No current board member may be nominated by the Board of Directors.

2. The nominee(s) selected by the Board of Directors will be inducted in that year's ceremony.

3. The Board nominee(s) shall meet the eligibility requirements.

Nominations by the Public

1. Nominations of people to be considered for induction may be made by any interested person, but must be made on the official form provided.

2. Induction will be annual, so nominations will be solicited, with appropriate publicity, every year.

3. Nomination forms will be available in the Park Forest Public Library immediately after October 1, and may be submitted to the Park Forest Historical Society at any time through December 15.

4. Each nominator may make only one nomination each year.

5. Persons may be renominated in a later year, if they have not been inducted on the first nomination. The nominator should provide a statement of recommendation listing accomplishments of the nominee. This statement will be crucial for the Hall of Fame committee.

Eligibility

1. Individuals or couples may be nominated.

2. Consideration shall be given to all nominees who have made consistent, substantial, and beneficial contributions to the life and citizens of Park Forest over a considerable span of time.

3. Not eligible are those people whose contributions, however noteworthy, have or had nothing to do with the village. Also, not eligible are those who were in Park Forest only for a while, or only in their youth, who attained fame after leaving the village. Accomplishments must have contributed to Park Forest.

4. Nominees who are deceased or no longer in the area are eligible for nomination and consideration if their contributions meet the requirements of item 2, above.

5. Persons currently holding elective or appointive office in the village, or who are employed by the village, may be nominated, but the mere fact of current or past such office or employment shall not be an automatic reason for consideration.

6. Eligibility is not limited to those most frequently-recognized or well-known; persons from any walk of life are to be regarded as eligible-business, religious, educational, volunteer, community service of any kind.

Selection

1. Up to seven members of the Park Forest Historical Society shall be appointed annually by the Park Forest Historical Society President to comprise the Hall of Fame Committee, and shall be eligible for reappointment. They are to examine the nominations received, and by January 31, select a list of nominees to be inducted.

2. Any person who is a voting member of the Selection Committee can not be selected for the Hall of Fame.

3. Throughout this consideration and selection process, there shall be no "quota" lines of representation drawn, but sensible care shall be taken to make certain that an appropriate variety of Park Foresters get to be considered and finally inducted. Special attention should be paid to the desirability of including people who may have been rather quiet about their substantial, consistent, and beneficial contributions, those who might commonly have been regarded as not very spectacularly important. The simple possession of fame or position should not be the deciding factor in consideration or selection.

4. Each year the Hall of Fame Committee will also induct the nominees of the Historical Society Board.

Induction

1. This will be done annually, in March or April. If deemed appropriate by the committee, a tea or buffet will be served. An appropriate induction ritual will be worked out. Nominators will be asked to present to make a brief introduction of their nominees.

2. Details of the event-time, location, catering, publicity, etc.-shall be in the hands of the annually appointed Hall of Fame Committee.

3. Inductees will receive a Hall of Fame pin and their names will be listed on the Hall of Fame plaque. A file will be kept in the local history collection to record the accomplishments of each inductee.

Approved 11-2007.