William “Billy” Morgan has been elected president of the Monee Historical Society.
He succeeds President Emeritus Christi Holston, who opted to step down last summer, citing a desire to ease a schedule that had become a bit too demanding. Her retirement became official on October 1.
In the months since then, MHS Secretary Phyllis Huffman served as interim president. She declined to accept the post on a permanent basis.
Morgan also is a Monee Township trustee and is associated with the Crete-Monee Education Foundation. He ran a close, but unsuccessful, race in November for the Illinois House of Representatives to represent District 79.
He was elected president of the Monee Historical Society during its annual meeting on January 9. He previously had served as the group’s vice president.
Also elected during the meeting were: Margaret Horne, vice president; Phyllis Huffman, secretary: Nancy Langenfeld, treasurer; and Ron Arnold, Mary Brockmiller, Marianne Dunlap, Dan Moore, and Betsy Youdris, directors.
The organization also voted to amend its bylaws, for the most part to create a new board position of President Emeritus, to be held by Holston.
Holston worked tirelessly on behalf of the MHS for 13 years, beginning when she and her husband, David, implored the Monee Village Board to reconsider its plans to demolish the 159-year-old Creamery building on Court Street.
Saving the handsome limestone building led to creation of the historical society and, in 2019, the building’s designation as a Will County Historic Landmark. It is now known as the Monee Heritage Center.
David Holston served as the MHS charter president in 2011, with Christi taking the reins in 2013.
Holston voiced confidence in Morgan as president of the MHS, and said, “I’m sure he will do a fabulous job.”
Morgan said later his mission as president will be “to update systems and put finances on the best footing possible to allow the Monee Historical Society to continue to exist long after all of the founding members have retired, providing an opportunity for MHS to focus more on preserving and promoting the area’s history.”
The MHS most recently entered into a new partnership with the Peotone Public Library District, which includes Monee, with a new bookshelf of children’s books available at the Monee Heritage Center, formerly known as the Creamery building, on Main Street.