Pekin high school football team recognized for community work

After reaching the quarterfinals in last year’s IHSA Class 7A playoffs, head coach Doug Nutter and the Pekin Community High School football team added an off-the-field accolade during Monday’s Pekin City Council meeting.

Pekin Mayor Mary Burress presented Nutter, the Pekin High School football coaching staff, and the entire team with Good Citizen awards for their clean-up efforts along Court Street and the Pekin riverfront last month.

While one team of volunteers cleaned up litter from Pekin Memorial stadium to downtown, another team picked up litter on Court Street from Broadway to Second Street.

“I wasn’t here the weekend you asked to do community service for our beautiful city,” Burress told Nutter. “But, I was thrilled to see the pictures of everything you had done. Your leadership is building this team to be the future. Maybe they will hold some of these offices one of these days.”

Exemplary Citizen

Burress and the Council also declared Steve Saal to be an Exemplary Citizen.

A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Saal has served as Supervisor of Veterans Affairs Assistance Commission for the Tazewell County government for 25 years, been a member of Tazewell Military Rites team and the Tazewell Area Ceremonial Team for 16 years.

Staal has been the Commander of American Legion Post #44 for 25 years. He also held a seat on the Tazewell County Board for 15 years and belongs to a variety of community and veterans’ organizations.

“This award is probably about 10 percent for me and about 90 percent for the veterans that fought in the conflicts we’ve had, the ones who are serving now, and the veterans we have in the audience,” Saal said. “They’re the ones you’ve got to thanks, because they’re the ones (defending) our freedom.”

This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Pekin high school football team recognized for efforts off the field