Bureau County Awards:

Progressive Farmer's Best Places to Live in Rural America

21st Best Rural Places to live (2006)

5th Best Place to live in the Midwest (2006)

2005 - Top 100 Best Rural Places to Live (2005)

Education Awards:

Illinois Report Card

2006 Spotlight School:

Bureau Valley Elementary – Wyanet – (PK-2) – Bureau Valley Custd 340

Depue Elementary School – DePue – (PK-8) – Depue Unit School District 103

Leepertown Elementary School – Leepertown – (PK-8) – Leepertown C C School District 175

Neponset Elementary School – Neponset – (PK-8) – Neponset Community COM CONS District 307

2006 Academic Improvement Award:

Van Orin Elementary School – Van Orin – (K-3) – La Moille C U School District 303

Leepertown Elementary School – Leepertown – (PK-8) – Leepertown C C School District 175

Ohio Community High School – Ohio – (9-12) – Ohio Community High School District 505

Governor's Home Town Awards:

2006 – Spring Valley – 2 nd Place - Parks & Recreation: City of Spring Valley, Spring Valley Walleye Club's Joint Restocking Program This program is the result of a unique partnership between Spring Valley and other Illinois and regional organizations. The program not only serves to promote the Spring Valley community, but also provides support for Illinois fisheries projects. Each year volunteers work many hours to put on the Spring Valley Masters Walleye Circuit Tournament. Tournament-caught fish are taken to the LaSalle hatchery where the milt and eggs are harvested to help in sauger (a cousin to the walleye) population recovery efforts in Illinois. This project has resulted in a number of cascading successes. Thanks to this partnership and the dedication of its many volunteers, Illinois River sauger populations have rebounded tremendously, a conservation fund has been established that will help fund additional fisheries-related projects, and Spring Valley continues to make a name for itself as the Sauger capital of the World. (CAT 3 – pop. 5,001-10,000).

2006 – Princeton – 1 st Place - Veterans Involvement: City of Princeton, Flags of Freedom The Flags of Freedom project was born from the desire of two local veterans to pay tribute to those serving in the armed forces, both past, present and future. The idea was to create a display consisting of a large United States flag in each of the four quadrants of the intersection of Interstate 80 and Illinois Route 26 the gateway to the City of Princeton. With the help of a dedicated group of volunteers, the project quickly gained momentum and became a reality on September 10, 2005, when the Flags of Freedom dedication ceremony was held, during the Princeton Homestead Festival, in front of an audience of 3,000. Nearly 250 volunteers banded together to make this highly-praised and respected project a reality.

2005 – Walnut – Veteran's Involvement: Veteran's Memorial Park (CAT 1 – pop. Up to 1,699) .

2005 – Spring Valley – Veteran's Involvement: Richard A. Mautino Memorial Library Veteran's Wing (CAT 1 – pop. Up to 1,699) .

2002 - Princeton – Veteran's Involvement: Veteran's Park – A small grassy area was renovated into a showplace honoring veterans, thanks to fundraising, landscaping and organization by volunteers (CAT 1 – pop. Up to 1,699).

1999 – Spring Valley – 2 nd Place - General: More than 200 volunteers form the nucleus of Project Success. This organization of schools, social service agencies, governments, churches and non-profit groups plans and takes action to improve the quality of life for area residents. (CAT III)

1992 – LaMoille – 2 nd Place - Lions Club members and other volunteers built a community center/baseball field. (CAT 1 – pop. Up to 1,699) .