NBGC is 92!

We were so thrilled to announce our 92nd Anniversary & 2023 Hall of Fame Inductees!

2023 Inductees
Ed Bass | Angie Jensen | Linda Krier | Larry Meyer
Jacob F. Nickels | Robert Turco

Please join us on Friday, October 20, 2023, at the Elks Club in Des Plaines for an evening celebrating this wonderful group of people.

EVENT DETAILS

Date: Friday, October 20th, 2023
Location: Elks Club in Des Plaines
Address: 495 Lee St, Des Plaines, IL 60016
Cocktails: 6:00 PM  | ​ Dinner: 7:00 PM | Award Presentation: 8:00 PM
Tickets: $55.00
Purchase Tickets:  CLICK HERE
Questions: Contact Bill Abplanalp, Deputy Director of Development at bill@nbgc.org  |  847.826.1317

Purchase Tickets

2023 Hall of Fame Biographies

Ed Bass
Ed Bass - Attended Bateman Elementary School.  Participated in sports at NBC from 1947 - 1952.  Pitched a no-hitter in an NBC baseball game.  Was quarterback of his NBC team.  Ed was a successful businessman running a car dealership and finance company.  When he retired, he came back to NBGC to volunteer.   He has helped fold alumni chatters, playing catch with day campers, and speaking to our Youth Leaders at their weekly leadership meetings.  After one leadership meeting, Ed had all the Youth Leaders answer some questions about leadership that they had to give back to him.  Ed took the time to read and respond to each youth leader.  Ed and his wife, Elinor, have been annual contributors to NBGC annual fund and the Scholarship Program.

Angie Jensen
Angie homeschooled all 5 of her kids, Phil, Dan, Sam, Katie and Tim. All were members, youth leaders, staff members and 3 were athletic directors. Her son Phil is in the NBGC Hall of Fame. Angie could be found at the NBGC for 25+ years as all 5 kids went through all our programs. During the years that her kids played at the club she was the “designated driver” as she would pick up her kid’s teammates in her minivan and drive them to the Club. She was a regular volunteer for the concession stand during games on Saturdays, Thanksgiving Day, Bake Sales, Spaghetti Dinners, helping with the Alumni Chatter newsletter mailings. She coached all 5 of her kids teams and was on the Board of Directors. Angie was very active for many years at the Family Fest and for years ran the kiddie games booth. She was very involved with the Mothers Club and was the Mom’s Club President for a few years. 

Linda Krier
Linda has been involved with the Neighborhood Boys & Girls Club for her entire life.  With her dad and mom (hall of famers Pete and Dorothy) and “little” brother (hall of fame Tom) so immersed in the club, it was only natural for her to join the family at the club, even though she could not be a member during her youth in the 1960’s. Linda began spending significant volunteer hours with club when she joined the Family Fest Finance Committee in the 1980’s.  Work began well before the first night of the Fest, as raffle books needed to be made, pick-up envelopes prepared and booth banks assembled.  And then, long days and nights in the “office trailer”, counting and securing the funds and tickets.  For years she sorted out wristbands used for the huge day camp events on her kitchen table, making sure all was properly accounted for.  In the middle 1990’s, Linda joined her brother and his wife Jeanne in establishing and funding the Peter J. Krier Scholarship Fund, which awards a scholarship to a deserving leader at the Leaders of the Future Scholarship event. Linda added to her NBGC engagement by participating with the Capital Campaign Committee in 2011 -2012. Linda is always thinking of ways to help the club.  A few years ago, she donated a golf cart to NBGC so the leaders could better haul equipment around the park.  During the winter she stores it in her garage. This past year, Linda could be found at the clubhouse helping the Archiving Committee sort through old documents, publications, and memorabilia.  Linda is also very involved at St. Benedict Parish (and schools), the Sing to Live Community Chorus, whose mission is to provide a musical outlet that fosters hope and celebrates survival for singers whose lives have been touched by breast cancer and counseling the Claretian Order of Priests in business matters. Linda is retired, having worked as a CPA for Arthur Young (now Ernst and Young) and then as the Chief Financial Officer of Seaton Corp.

Larry Meyer
While never a member of the NBGC, Larry Meyer’s impact to the club was significant. Working at Victor Adding Machine as an accountant, Larry started as a volunteer at the NBC in the late 1960’s.  He became the club’s accountant, working on its financial matters on Saturday mornings. His volunteer role expanded when he was elected to the board of directors and then holding the office of treasurer. As is true with many of the club’s hall of famers, Larry was a key member of the Family Fest team, acting as the event’s finance committee chair for several years. Like the coaches of football and other sports, Larry enjoyed “coaching” in his area of expertise-accounting, mentoring a leader to become a successful accountant and future NBGC board member and officer. Being at the club as much as he was, Larry became a dear friend of NBGC’s first Executive Director, Dick Valentin (hall of famer).  In Dick’s later years, Larry would drive him to the doctor/hospital for schedule medical care and to club events, like the Family Fest, Bears Bash and informal gatherings of original members/alumni. Larry was raised in Beaver Dam, WI.  After serving in the army in Europe during WWII, he lived in Chicago for 35 years.  In retirement, he moved back to Beaver Dam.  He passed in February 2003.

Jacob F. Nickels
Mr. Nickels was the first president of NBC's Board of Directors and served on NBC's Advisory Board for many years. His interest and efforts, especially in the early years of NBC were a big factor in establishing the Club on an organized and permanent basis.  He was the type of man that a new organization like NBC was fortunate to know - someone that the Club could start to build around.  He saw the necessity of organized fundraising if the Boys Club was going to survive in the future.  He started the Dad's Club with this end in mind and then spearheaded the work of the dad’s in their first fundraising project.  The project was publishing a community directory which existed for many years and produced unrestricted funds (which for some time was one of NBC's main sources of income).  His 2 sons, Bill and Bob, participated in programs that NBC offered and played on the Clarion's team.  Mr. Nickels seldom missed a game that his boys were playing in.  Mr. Nickels was the type of dad that we'd like to see our boys grow up to be.  Mr. Nickels grandson, Greg Nickels, followed his grandfather's footsteps as a leader and served as the 51st Mayor of Seattle.  Greg was elected in this role for 2 consecutive terms.  
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Robert Turco
Robert Turco - was a member of the Neighborhood Boys Club in the 1960s on the Scorpions. In those years he became proficient at Table Tennis and competed at a championship level. He returned as a member of the staff.  In addition to taking on the many tasks assigned by Dick Valentin and Richard Brandon, Bob energized the games room with a variety of activities including just about every type of Table Tennis tournament you can imagine. Members would quickly fill the slots for regular ping-pong events. After his time running the McCormack Boys’ Club, Bob returned to the Club as a member of the Board of Directors, lending his knowledge of the community and community organizations. In the early 2000s, Bob hosted a number of “Bob Turco Opens” in the Clubhouse. Former members were excited to come back and pay to play in the games room again. This was not just to support the Club in buying new table tennis equipment, but also to relive some of their fondest memories of tournaments run by Bob. 

Location

Des Plaines Elk's Club
​Address: 495 Lee St, Des Plaines, IL 60016