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President & Publisher
Julie Russell
julie@adcoagency.com
Editor
Paul Gordon
editor@thepeorian.com
Design
Stuart Clubb
Mike Cameron
Megan Valentine
Sara Hale
Contributing Writers
Kevin Kizer
kevin@adcoagency.com
Dr. Peter J. Couri
Cathi Hawkinson
Dr. Joy Miller
Gary Wright
Advertising Sales Contact
Emily Ferrell
ads@thepeorian.com
Production Manager
Mark Kiel
Publications Director
Lisa Abraham
Production
AdCo Advertising Agency, Inc.
1302 W. Pioneer Parkway
Peoria, IL 61615
Phone: (309) 692-7880
Editor
From the
www.thePeorian.com
5
thePeorian.com
If
you ever want to get an
idea for the wealth of tal-
ented and special people
that reside in our relatively small
region of the world, get yourself
on a committee charged with
picking finalists for some award.
In my most recent case it was
helping to choose five finalists
for the inaugural The Peorian of
the Year Award. The committee
picked by
The Peorian
publisher
and AdCo Advertising president
Julie Russell was given 20 nomi-
nees to choose from; it took us
nearly four hours, so impressive
was the entire group and so dif-
ficult was it to try and narrow it.
Oh, and we had been given
the nomination forms before the
meeting where we made our
selections.
What we were looking for were
people who have done things in
the past and at the present to ben-
efit the Peoria region and things
that will continue to benefit the
region into the future. As Russell
has said, it’s sort of a “good egg”
award.
What a group of finalists we
have: Glen Barton, Carl Cannon,
Jim McConoughey, Bonnie Noble
and Dr. Jasti Rao. Most of you
know who they are and what
they do. All are good eggs, all
are instrumental in making the
Peoria region a top-notch place to
live, work and play, all are trying
to improve the lot of others.
We won’t divulge the names
of the other nominees but I can
assure you that the quality was
as good, the people all worthy of
the award. All are people we are
proud to know and call fellow
Peorians.
The collective value of all the
nominees to the Peoria area is
priceless.
Worthy, also, are the not-for-
profit agencies chosen by the
finalists to receive the $10,000
cash award from
The Peorian
if
they are selected The Peorian of
the Year. Who would deny the
Quest Charter Academy, the
Peoria Public School Foundation,
the Heart of Illinois United Way,
the Children’s PlayHouse and
Museum or the Children’s Hospi-
tal of Illinois?
We at
The Peorian
want to thank
you, our readers, for taking the
time to nominate such a fine
group of leaders. We weren’t sure
how it would go, being the first
year. It turned out to be phenom-
enal.
Now we turn to you again. You
will pick the winner of the 2012
The Peorian of the Year Award by
the votes you cast on our website,
www.thepeorian.com. You can
vote once a day throughout the
month of March and how you
base your vote is your decision.
It is obvious that with the
group of finalists from which you
may choose there cannot be a
wrong choice.
Then we hope to see you at The
Peorian of the Year Luncheon in
April to learn if your choice is the
winner.