A popular program started by a Villa Park student was the subject of a presentation at the Village Hall on Monday night. The Adopt-A-Hydrant program first proposed by Joey Egan from Villa Park generated lots of participation and resulted in over 140 fire hydrants being adopted. Many of the hydrants have been painted with an artistic design throughout Villa Park. Some will have to wait until the spring of 2012 for warmer weather to be finished.

The hydrant program was conceived to generate funds for the Villa Park Fire Department by offering residents and local business the opportunity to adopt a fire hydrant for a fee and paint the hydrant in a design using materials donated to the project. Similar community programs involving painting fire hydrants have been a success in cities like Cleveland, Ohio, South Bend, Indiana and other cities.

The program in Villa Park offered a fire hydrant to local residents for $25 under a two-year adoption. The artist could paint the hydrant with a primer and then multiple colors in a design of their choosing. Certain restrictions were put into place but virtually any “G” rated design was acceptable. Originally, the hydrants could be painted through October 1 of 2011, but the window was expanded to allow for the high demand to adopt hydrants and to take advantage of the mild weather last fall.

The results were a constant flow of painted hydrants that range from sports teams to cartoon characters, promotion of local school teams and patriotic art. The Fire Department organized a committee to vote on the three best-painted fire hydrants. The winners were announced at the Village Hall live on cable television in Villa Park.

Chief Mark Duski opened the awards ceremony by presenting a unique trophy style award to Joseph Egan. The award was a fire hydrant and a plaque inscribed with an acknowledgement of Joey and the Egan family’s efforts to initiate the program. Then the top three hydrants were announced and awards presented to the hydrant artists.

The third place hydrant was awarded to Ms. Heidi Laslo for her beautiful sunflower on green art in the 700 block of South Illinois Avenue. Heidi’s skills as an artist are shown in the hand painted flowers including stems, pedals and sunflower seeds in a dozen flowers on a deep green background. The design will offer a view of perpetual springtime even in the coldest winter months.

The second place hydrant art winner was awarded to Keith Sprovieri for a Disney Fantasia style painting of Mickey Mouse topped with a blue hat, a white crescent moon and stars. The base of the design includes a body wrapped in a bow. The face of Mickey Mouse includes a broad smile that will surely inspire anyone driving by to emulate.

The first place hydrant art award went to Rich Biagioli and his son Conner. Together they created a colorful puzzle on their hydrant with vibrant blues, reds, yellows and white outlined in black. The colors on the hydrant at Central and Wisconsin not only can be easily viewed by everyone in the neighborhood but also by people using the adjacent Illinois Prairie Path. Rich Biagioli is a resident of the Village and also a Firefighter/Paramedic in Villa Park.

On hand to express their appreciation to the three winners and also all of the local artists who participated in the adopt-a-hydrant program were more than a dozen members of the Fire Department. Although two paramedics responded to a medic call during the presentation. The remaining personnel including Fire Chief Duski, Deputy Chief Stapleton and four Lieutenants plus several firefighter/paramedics were all dressed in formal blue uniforms at the awards ceremony. They posed for pictures for the media with the winners on the steps of the Village Board Meeting Room.

In addition to certificates and framed photos of the hydrants, the winners also received one of several prizes including a smoke detector and CO2 detector package, future VIP rides on the Villa Park Fire Engines and family passes to the Villa Park Parks and Recreation Pools this summer.

Chief Mark Duski explained that the proceeds from the adopt-a-hydrant program might be allocated to install an electronic sign on the east end of Fire Station 3 at 1250 South Ardmore. Currently a portable sign with individual letters is in place at the location to display information. It is hoped that an electronic sign will soon be in place to detail CPR classes, fire safety information and possibly other information about the Village to passersby. The details of the any future electronic sign are still pending.