Park Dedication Honors Martha Weiss

What do you get when you dedicate 22 years to your park district? 

Martha Weiss found out when the Buffalo Grove Park District dedicated a park in her honor.

At a June 10 ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by park district commissioners, staff, village officials and friends and neighbors of Weiss, the former Camelot Corner Park was officially renamed Martha Weiss Park.

“It means a lot. I was very honored,” Weiss said. “I knew in concept that they were going to do this, but to see it is really amazing.”

Weiss, who said she has a view of the park from her backyard, said she’s spent countless hours there with her family over the years. 

“It’s a park that my kids grew up in. We spent a lot of time here,” she said. The park features playground equipment and is backed by a detention basin that the four Weiss children found had a second use. “They thought this was the greatest sled hill in the world,” Weiss said.

Her children are now grown, but Weiss still regularly makes her way to the park, which now has an entrance sign bearing her name.

“I have a dog, so we walk the dog here a lot,” she said.

Martha Weiss Park also now features a butterfly garden, which was planted after officials asked Weiss what amenity she’d like to see added.

During the dedication ceremony in the park, park district officials praised Weiss for her service. Over the years, she was instrumental in the acquisition, development and redevelopment of various parks and park district facilities, said Commissioner Larry Reiner, who served with Weiss for all 22 years and remains on the board.

When working with representatives of other governing bodies, “They all knew that trust was Martha’s middle name,” Reiner said. Her name, her integrity speaks loudly for everybody.”

“Martha was always the combination of the voice of reason and the voice of levity at the same time,” Reiner said. “When she spoke, people listened. She just had everyone behind her. She was very likable.”

“I can’t believe I was on the board for 22 years. It went very, very quickly,” said Weiss, who has since taken a job as an administrative assistant for the park district. 

Weiss is also a member of the Buffalo Grove Rotary Club, for which she oversees student exchange program and volunteers with the Environmental Action Team, which her husband, Jeff, established.