On Monday, March 9, 2020, Northern Suburban
Special Recreation Association (NSSRA) will mark 50
years of commitment and service to its participants,
families, partners, staff and communities. Formed in
1970, NSSRA was the first special recreation association
(SRA) in the country, and over the next year we are going to be sharing and celebrating
our history together.
Below is a glimpse of not just our founding story, but the history of special recreation
associations as a whole, beginning in the the late 1960s.
1968: On January 8, 1968,
representatives from ten park districts
met in the Chicago area to discuss the
possible establishment of a special
recreation district for children in the area
with disabilities.
Two of the larger municipalities
represented, Highland Park and
Wilmette, worked with area school
districts to identify potential populations
to be served and evaluate the extent of
needed programs.
1969: In 1969, Senate Bills 745 & 746
were passed during the Illinios General
Assembly, allowing park districts and
municipal recreation departments to
enter into cooperative agreements to
form special recreation associations for
individuals with disabilities.
Park districts contributed tax dollars from
their recreation and corporate tax levies
to initiate and maintain services referred
to as "special recreation".
1970: Subsequently, in March 1970
the first SRA was established as the
"Northern Suburban Special Recreation
District," serving the communities of
Glencoe, Glenview, Deerfield, Highland
Park, Highwood, Lake Forest, Northbrook,
Northfield, Wilmette and Winnetka. The
name was later changed to "Northern
Suburban Special Recreation Association"
(NSSRA), and the cooperative later
grew to include the communities of
Kenilworth, Lake Bluff and Riverwoods.
Fred B. McGlone was brought on as
NSSRA's first Executive Director, assisted
by Recreation Supervisor Sally Stewart
from Wilmette Parks and Recreation
Department.
The first NSSRA program, a day camp in
cooperation with Northern Suburban
Special Education District (NSSED), was
held during the summer for 90 campers.
1972: In June 1972,
Stephen R. Keay replaced
McGlone as Executive
Director. Keay was the
Assistant Superintendent
of Schools for Kenilworth
and had a long-running
14
history with park districts in the Chicago
area. He had a vision of what SRAs could
become and invested the energy and
commitment to make things happen
throughout the state.
1973 - 1974:
The early 70s brought the formation of
several additional SRAs, including:
• Maine-Niles Association of Special
Recreation (M-NASR) in February
1973, serving Des Plaines, Golf Maine,
Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, Park
Ridge and Skokie
• South Suburban Special Recreation
Association (SSSRA) in June 1973, serving
Chicago Heights, Crete, Homewood
Flossmoor, Olympia Fields, Park Forest,
Park Forest South and Steger
• Northwest Special Recreation Association
(NWSRA) in January 1974, serving
Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove
Village, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates,
Mount Prospect, Palatine, Prospect
Heights, River Trails, Rolling Meadows, Salt
Creek, Schaumburg, and Wheeling
As the decade passed, the success of
NSSRA, M-NASR, SSSRA and NWSRA
prompted the creation of more SRAs to
serve communities throughout Illinios.