Charlie Mayton Is Montgomery Patch's Person of the Year

The Aurora father of three volunteers with Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, and offers up his DJ services to school dances for free.

Charlie Mayton says he’s surprised at the amount of support he received in Patch’s Person of the Year poll.  Mayton, a father of three from Aurora, was one of five nominees for the award. He put out a call on Facebook for votes, and man, did he get them—Mayton ended up with 586 votes, or 88 percent of the total, in our unscientific poll.   “I’m humbled, shocked and honored,” he said. It’s proof that Mayton has a lot of friends, which is further testament to his character. Mayton’s two sons (Andrew, 12, and Matthew, 9) are involved in Scouting. (He also has a daughter, Elizabeth, 17.) For four years, Mayton has volunteered a lot of time to that organization. He’s the cubmaster for Cub Scout Pack 643, and the assistant scoutmaster for Boy …

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Vote for Montgomery Patch's Person of the Year

We received five nominations for our inaugural Person of the Year honor. Now it's time to vote for a winner. Voting runs through Friday, Dec. 30, at 5 p.m.

We asked you for your nominations, and you came through. Now it’s time to vote for Montgomery Patch’s Person of the Year. We have five nominees for this inaugural honor, all of whom were suggested by members of the community. Below, you’ll find our poll, where you can vote for the person you think is most deserving of the award. Voting will remain open through 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 30, with the winner announced the following week here on Patch. Thanks very much for taking the time to vote. And now, your nominees for the First Annual Montgomery Patch Person of the Year: Remember, you have until Friday at 5 p.m., so get to voting!

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Andre Salles

5:32 pm on Friday, December 30, 2011

We've looked into it, and it's not a glitch. Charlie asked for support in this poll on Facebook, and his family and friends passed the link around for days. The numbers show a significant increase in page views on this story over the past few days. We didn't stipulate that you could only vote once, either, although the system makes it harder to vote multiple times. Basically, Charlie asked people…   more ›

Village Board Honors Bark for 32 Years With Plan Commision

Clarence Bark, 88, retired as the longest-serving plan commissioner last month. On Monday, the Village Board honored and thanked him for his decades of work.

Clarence Bark joined the Montgomery Plan Commission in 1979.  He’s been there ever since, participating in some of the most momentous decisions in recent village history. During Bark’s tenure, the Orchard Road business corridor truly took off, with Walmart, Walgreens, Aldi, Burger King and other stores opening up. The Ogden Hill shopping center also broke ground, sprung up and opened its doors during Bark’s time. The village also built its two flagship buildings, the new Village Hall on River Street and the new police station on Civic Center Drive. Those landmarks are in addition to the hundreds of smaller projects he helped shepherd through in his 32 years on the commission. Last month, at age 88, Bark retired from the plan commission, …

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Longest-Serving Plan Commission Member Hanging Up His Hat

Clarence Bark is retiring from the Montgomery Plan Commission after more than three decades on the job.

Montgomery resident Clarence Bark didn’t initially seek out a seat on the village’s Plan Commission. “It wasn’t my idea,” he said. “In 1979 the mayor came to me and asked if I’d serve so I said, ‘Well, I’ll help you out.’ I thought it would just be a short-term thing.” Now 30 years later, Bark, who holds the record as longest-serving member of the plan commission, is hanging up his hat. “Like anything, you come to a point where you decide you have to make a change,” he said. “Like I told the mayor when I turned in my resignation, ‘It’s time for some younger people to come in.’ I see those people in Congress that stay and stay and I wish they’d put term limitations because younger ideas don’t get in.” In his tenure, Bark enjoyed watching …

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Jason Bragg

10:31 am on Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Clarence, it's been a true pleasure serving with you. Thank you for being a mentor to all of us for so long. Enjoy retirement, and I'll see you at the next Lutefisk (Norwegian) community dinner!   more ›

About Town

Love, War and a Parade: Get to Know Grand Marshal Clarence Bark

At almost 88 years old, Clarence Bark looks back on his life and the choices he made over the years; love always won out.

Talking to Clarence Bark, this year’s Montgomery Fest Parade’s Grand Marshal, is like stepping back in time 60 years. Bark’s tales are firmly mid-Twentieth Century. I sat down with Bark and his wife, Jeanette, in their Montgomery home last week—just two days before Sunday's parade—and Bark still wasn’t sure what a Grand Marshal was supposed to do, but he was ready to wing it. Bark, 87, has been winging it for most of his life. Straight out of high school at age 18, he couldn’t find a job, so he went into the the Navy Reserves. “In 1941, there was no work. That’s why I joined the Navy,” said Bark, who turns 88 on August 25. Bark served in the Navy from July 1941 to September 1946, during World War II. He first served on the USS Bennington (…

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Stan Bond

8:17 am on Monday, August 15, 2011

Clarence Bark is a treasure to Montgomery. He has a long record of public service and a positive spirit that is infectious and inspiring.   more ›