Danyelle Harrison-Clarke, a monument design and sales consultant and member of the Warsaw Community Women's Club, is extremely active in all aspects of community affairs and consults regularly with other townspeople from a variety of fields to identify ways to improve and preserve Warsaw. Her contributions to the community have been many and varied. As part of a 2004 Women's Club project to celebrate Warsaw's history, Ms. Harrison-Clarke designed a granite bench for a commemorative park on Main Street; the bench featured a collage of local landmarks and highlighted former Secretary of State and poet John Hay, Warsaw's most famous past resident. Ms. Harrison-Clarke galvanized the fundraising and publicity effort for the 2005 renovation of the Ralston Park Playground, organizing highly-successful events that not only raised money for the project but bolstered community togetherness and pride as well. She capitalized on the popularity of high school basketball with a co-ed "Reunion of the Champions" game, brought back memories of a bygone era with an old-fashioned ice cream social featuring a local jazz and ragtime band, rewarded area "scholars" at Warsaw Trivia Night, and celebrated past community achievements with an event hosted at the restored Warsaw Brewing Corp.
Select Illinois Humanities Council programs are now available for listening or download at Chicago Public Media (WBEZ) as a part of Chicago Amplified, a web-based audio library of diverse public events recorded throughout the Chicago region.
