The Oak Park River Forest Museum will hold its annual gala at Oak Park’s Nineteenth Century Club on Thursday, March 13. At the event, the Historical Society will award two Heart of Our Villages honors: one to Oak Parker Bob Trezevant and one to River Forest resident Laura Maychruk.
Frank Lipo, executive director of the society, says the group established the Heart of Our Villages awards in 2018 as a way to recognize people who have had an outsized impact on the villages.
“We look for people who really have some passion or heart for the villages. They have a real love of community. They don’t just engage with one activity. They have a wide-open heart where they’re very generous,” he said.
There are some loose criteria for selecting one honoree from Oak Park and one honoree from River Forest each year. The selection committee looks for people who have lived in the villages for at least five years, but ideally 20 or more years, and they look for people who volunteer at multiple local institutions, support local not-for-profits, have a respect for diversity, and people who really care about the story-telling and history of Oak Park and River Forest. Lipo likens it to a career achievement award.
Oak Park’s Bob Trezevant
Lipo says of this year’s honoree from Oak Park, “Bob [Trezevant] is a person who completely covers the ideal of doing multiple things and doing them with passion. Almost from the moment he came to town, he was involved with things from culture to education and architecture.”
Trezevant notes that it was easy to get involved when he moved to Oak Park in 1977. His wife Katherine Gervais Trezevant was a fourth generation Oak Parker, and he says her family’s involvement in the community made it easy to step right into volunteering.
His first job in the community was with the Festival Theater, which led to a connection with the organization that is now the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust. Trezevant was an early interpreter and led tours at the Home & Studio for 15 years and at Unity Temple for 30 years, recently earning a pin for his 45 years of service.
He says of his long-term volunteer commitment, “I loved doing it. It’s fantastic having the memories of those early days.”
In 1980, Trezevant was one of the founding investors in Wednesday Journal, and in 1983, he returned to teaching and taught in Oak Park’s District 97 for 15 years.
In 1989, he was one of the founding members of OPALGA+, the Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association. He was also a member of the Civic Arts Council, the Oak Park Civic Symphony Chorus, an early member of the Windy City Gay Chorus, and a founding member of the Oak Park Concert Chorale.
After 38 years of marriage, Katherine Gervais Trezevant died Dec. 24, 2004. Trezevant met his partner, Jerry Ehernberger, at an OPALGA potluck in 2007. Just a few years ago, Trezevant joined the Nineteenth Century Club.
With no signs of slowing down, Trezevant continues to volunteer and be an avid supporter of all things Oak Park. He says of his role in the community, “I’m a connector person. I have a lot of energy. I have a lot of time.”
He is humbled to be recognized with a Heart of Our Village award and says of previous honorees, “There are so many different, talented people out there who are willing to share.”
River Forest’s Laura Maychruk
Lipo says Maychruk has “been entwined in the fabric of our two villages for a long time.”
As the founder and 25-year owner of the Buzz Café on South Lombard Avenue, Maychruk moved to an apartment above the café the day after her wedding. She became a stalwart champion of the Oak Park Arts District and continues to act as the district’s president after selling the business to Kribi Coffee in 2023.
She and her husband have raised four children in River Forest and restored their Victorian home along the way, garnering multiple awards from the River Forest Historic Preservation Commission. While running a business, Maychruk has had a long career as a realtor, specializing in Oak Park and River Forest.
Maychruk, who says her initial response to learning that she was being honored was, “You’re kidding. Am I worthy?” says that she has always been deeply involved in her community. For 15 years, she hosted candidate forums for local elections at the Buzz Café, and just this week, she moderated a forum for candidates for the Oak Park village board for Wednesday Journal.
With three of her four kids out of the house, Maychruk says she has a renewed energy and recently joined the board of the Imagine Foundation, a fundraising arm that supports the Masters Facilities Plan at Oak Park and River Forest High School.
Through it all Maychruk says that she loves all of her activities in both Oak Park and River Forest noting, “I’m keeping my connection to everything that I love — making new commitments and keeping old ones.”
Gala details
The OPRF Museum Gala takes place on March 13 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Nineteenth Century Club, 178 Forest Ave. in Oak Park.
The night begins with entertainment, hors d’oeurves, and beverages at 6:30 p.m., and the awards ceremony begins at 7:30 p.m. Proceeds benefit the operations of The Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest.
Tickets can be reserved on the Historical Society website: https://oprfmuseum.org/store#!/Event/c/26624115 or by calling 708-848-6755.