2024 ANnual Meeting: Cookies, Cocoa, and the cook county historical society

Thank you to everyone who made it to the 2024 Annual Meeting. We celebrated our past year with cookies, cocoa, and coziness, which was aptly planned for the cool, rainy, grey day.

The meeting began with a surprise award ceremony for the incredible Alta McQuatters. Renee Riemersma, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), reached out to us a while ago inquiring about awarding Alta with the Excellence in Historic Preservation Award. This award is given to individuals or organizations that promote historic preservation. Alta has been instrumental in researching, sharing, and keeping stories alive for the Cook County Historical Society and the rest of the county in a variety of ways, including researching gravesites, providing history for the Chippewa Church, and more. (For more information about all of Alta’s accomplishments, we presented her story - with her in attendance - at our first Women of Cook County event in 2023. You can view the video of the presentation here.)

Renee gave a short introduction to Alta and her work, then presented her with a certificate and a medal.

Next, interim director Aliya Marxen went over some of the highlights from the past year, and Board Vice President Margaret Hedstrom introduced the 2025-2030 Strategic Plan the organization will implement starting next year. The meeting concluded with some selected readings by Marxen from our newest book, At the End of the Caribou: Tait Lake and the Life of Cap and Billie Peterson, by Jocelyn Bowman Thornton.

And of course, the event wouldn’t have been complete without a full hot cocoa bar with four varieties of hot chocolate and various toppings, and cookies, some homemade by our JHP Art Gallery Assistant Lois Clay, and some favorites purchased.