Whether it was leading a Scout troop, helping with the annual Chocolate Tour or persuading state and federal officials to add an interchange on Interstate 57, Paul Schore did it for the community.

The 70-year-old Bourbonnais native spent 28 years serving the people of the village, the last 17 as mayor.

Schore volunteered to run as a trustee candidate when asked by then-Mayor Grover Brooks.

Volunteering is in Schore’s DNA.

His teachers were his parents - Bernard and Marie.

“We were lucky growing up here as a kid. Everything was volunteer. It was Little League or anything else; it didn’t matter, whatever it was,” Schore said.

“Everybody just pitched in and volunteered to do stuff. You have to give back a little bit; somebody did that for you.”

Along with his wife, Mary, the couple passed volunteering and working hard onto their children: Beth, Mark and Matt. In turn, they have passed it on to their children.

“My dad has always believed that leadership means service,” Matt Schore said about his father. “That belief was lived out in Scouting, where he was our Scout leader, and it shaped the way he led our family, our troop, and ultimately our community.

“To him, leadership was never about recognition. It was about showing up, doing the work, and setting an example.”

Matt continued: “In our home, hard work wasn’t optional. If you start a job, you finish it. No excuses. He taught us to do the right thing when no one is watching, because your name and your word are everything.”

It is that work ethic and core values as a father, employee, trustee and finally mayor of Bourbonnais that led to Schore being honored as the Daily Journal’s 2025 Lifetime Citizen of the Year recipient.

“If you’re ever going to do stuff, get involved; just don’t sit in the background,” Schore said. “It’s not just to put it on your LinkedIn or whatever.”

Hand in hand

Schore does not candy coat anything. He is not afraid to tell you how he feels.

But it is quick to see, Bourbonnais and Schore were made for one another.

“He was always at an event, whether it was the St. Patrick’s Day dinner for the seniors, if it was for the Easter egg hunt there at Goselin Park. He was always out there helping with programs and what have you. He was very active,” former Bourbonnais administrator Frank Koehler said.

“Being an elected official in the village, trustee and mayor, was what Paul was all about. He took it very seriously. By definition, he was always present when something was going on.”

Back in 1992, then-Mayor Grover Brooks asked Schore to run for trustee along with Vera Amiano, who Schore knew through her work for Bank of Bourbonnais.

Schore said they didn’t know what to expect after they won. Then the fun began being a trustee.

“It was kind of eye-opening,” Schore said. “You just try and do the right thing. A lot of it’s common sense, and just do the right thing.

“If some people don’t like that, well, they don’t like that. But just do what you feel the right thing is, At the end of the day, you got nothing to apologize for. That’s what I tried to do along the way.”

Koehler said the word “fair” comes to mind about Schore the politician.

“He was open-minded, concerned about the impact it might have on residents, whatever we were talking about,” Koehler said. “He took a lot of things into consideration. He was very forward-thinking.”

Koehler remembered when Schore became trustee, the village was expanding its footprint with new subdivisions and businesses.

The I-57 interchange

Koehler recalled what it took to get the Bourbonnais Parkway interchange on Interstate 57 built.

Koehler came on board in 1996 and floated the idea to the board.

“As a trustee, he recognized the importance of that, and certainly as mayor, he followed through on that,” Koehler said. “We kept it at the forefront. It took about 20 years, and Paul was shepherding that the whole time.”

As the massive project worked its way up for approval and construction, Koehler recalled, Schore took pride and joy in bringing that to the village.

“That’s not an easy thing to do. He’s proud of the village and the growth it’s sustained and the quality of life it’s maintained,” Koehler said.

Schore said bringing the interchange to Kankakee County was a long journey that was worth the wait.

“That was 18 years trying to keep that thing alive and going until eventually we got the federal transportation funds to do that $50 million project up there,” Schore said. “That’s made a difference throughout the county.”

He said the interchange has eased traffic on Illinois Route 50. It’s taken traffic off of Manteno.

“You go up there in the mornings and in the evenings; there’s an unbelievable amount of people using that interchange, and it’ll have commercial growth; it’s coming,” the former mayor said.

Parks not forgotten

Koehler said Schore took the same approach when it came to the village’s parks.

“Making sure that there was open space and recreational activities. Whether it was Goselin Park, whether it was Cavalier Park, whether it was Riverfront Park, he always took a lot of pride in those,” Koehler said. “It’s not surprising that The Grove develops under his watch.”

The Grove is located on 12.5 acres behind the Municipal Center and administration building.

It opened in June 2024.

It offers open space, a splash pad, a playground, fire pits and a stage for performances year-round.

The $18.2 million project turned Robert Goselin Memorial Park into a huge village drawing card.

The project was financed by municipal bonds and money from the village’s three business taxing districts, and interest earned from the $32.1 million the village received selling its wastewater treatment system to Aqua Illinois.

“That was six years from beginning to end. That’s something that just takes an unbelievable amount of planning and public input. We had more people have their fingers on that project than you can imagine,” Schore said.

Schore noted the out-of-town design people were shocked at the amount of people who participated in the park concept.

“They weren’t used to getting 3,000 responses to a questionnaire on what would you like to see, what don’t you want to see, those kinds of things. They were inundated.”

The Grove has turned into a regional destination, which Schore and the administration team aimed for it to be.

Lasting impact

Along with former administrator Laurie Cyr, Schore led the way to restore the original 1837 log schoolhouse.

Schore is a firm believer in keeping the community’s past in the present for all to remember their heritage.

“[Laurie] really helped put a lot of these things into motion and made sure that they were, from the internal side, the minutiae, made sure they got done. Paul had the great vision,” Koehler said.

Matt Schore agreed.

“He understood that the work he did would last for years, decades, even generations,” Matt Schore said. “If something was done right the first time, it wouldn’t need to be redone, and the community would be stronger long after he was gone. He didn’t just talk about values. He built them into the places and people around him.”