The Geneva Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that the year’s previous Wood Award recipient, Jay Womack, also will be honored as parade marshal for the Swedish Days parade.
Womack was born in Geneva. During grade school, he moved to Yorkville and grew up on a wooded property that backed up to a forest preserve, thus beginning his love of nature. He and his wife, Sherre, have raised their daughter in Geneva and are now proud grandparents of two grandchildren. Womack is a landscape architect, highly trained and skilled in his field. He is currently a Senior Architect, Ecological Design, Huff & Huff, a subsidiary of GZA.
Over time he has contributed to many organizations such as the City of Geneva's Natural Resources Committee, Geneva Park District Foundation, Western Avenue School, Kane County Forest Preserve District, Kane/DuPage Water Conservation District, Conservation Foundation of Kane County, the Rain Barrels on Parade Campaign, Tree Hab USA, Friends of the Chicago River, Chicago Wilderness and the Morton Arboretum. Womack’s passion for the environment is unrelenting, as is his energy.
Nominated by both Geneva Park District, where he serves on the foundation board, and Kane County Forest Preserve, he is a site steward for Fabyan Forest Preserve. He was honored in 2019 with the Outstanding Citizen Volunteer of the Year given by the Illinois Association of Park Districts.
He has been the chair of the City's Natural Resource Committee since 2007. During this time, he has donated thousands of hours to various causes including Earth Day, the Fox River Clean Up, and the Wine Cheese & Trees fundraiser, which he created and continues to organize to raise money to assist in replacing trees in Geneva that were lost to the Emerald Ash Borer.
Along the way, he has encouraged hundreds of young people to share in his passion and contagious enthusiasm for the environment by hosting engaging and interactive events throughout the Fox Valley area, such as his Native Species Removal and Battle of the Brush Competition.
In 2022, Womack was honored as the Chamber's Wood Award recipient.
The Swedish Days festival runs from Wednesday to Sunday, June 21-25.
Source: Geneva Chamber Of Commerce News Release