As state Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, gazed at her likeness and the language on the plaque to be mounted at the newly named Adriane Johnson Amphitheater at Mike Rylko Community Park, she realized its lasting impact.
“It was like an out-of-body experience,” Johnson said. “When you’re in service to the community, you’re not thinking about accolades. You’re thinking about serving the people in your community. This is an honor. I’m gratified. It will be here for generations to come.”
The Adriane Johnson Amphitheater at Mike Rylko Community Park was officially named for the senator and onetime member of the Buffalo Grove Park District Board of Commissioners on Tuesday at Rylko Park in Buffalo Grove recognizing her service to the community.
Just as she was thinking of posterity as she looked at the plaque, Johnson expressed her feelings as she began her remarks at the ceremony. Along with the Park District, she was involved in a variety of civic efforts during more than 25 years as a citizen of Buffalo Grove.
“I’m deeply touched seeing all of you in the Buffalo Grove community,” Johnson said. “I’m still floating on cloud nine. This is a full-circle moment.”
Held just before the village’s celebration of National Night Out on Tuesday, a crowd of more than 1,000 people gathered on the facility’s crescent-shaped concrete benches and their own chairs placed on the grassy area between the permanent seating.
Mike Terson, the Park District’s superintendent of communications and marketing, said it took approximately a year to build the amphitheater as a venue for live music, festivals, the annual summer concert series and Buffalo Grove Days over the Labor Day weekend.
Terson said that the room in front of the stage, the area between the concrete benches and more grassy area beyond, is made to hold thousands. Music, which started after the dedication, could be heard in the parking lots.
Before she took the stage with the park commissioners and Buffalo Grove Mayor Eric Smith, Johnson spent time greeting family, friends and colleagues who were there. It included neighbors in Buffalo Grove, colleagues from the Senate and others she has touched over the years.
A Buffalo Grove resident for more than 25 years, a park commissioner for nearly 11 years and a state senator since 2020, Johnson also talked about the impact of parks on her life from the time she was a child in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood of Chicago.
During his speech, Smith said Johnson’s career is “marked by breaking barriers, but also by doing the hard, often quiet work that doesn’t always make headlines — working with residents, building partnerships and pushing for policies that make a real difference for people.
“It makes sense to associate her name with a place like this — an open, public venue where the community can gather, enjoy performances and share experiences together,” he said. “It reflects the kind of community Sen. Johnson has come to support — one that’s innovative, inclusive, vibrant and forward-looking.”
Park District Commissioner Larry Reiner talked about Johnson’s time on the Park District board and how she worked with others to accomplish numerous tasks, bringing projects to fruition. She drew others into the effort.
“She was a driving force behind well over 60 specific projects, initiatives and administrative collaborative efforts, with the emphasis on collaborative,” Reiner said.
When former state Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, resigned his seat in 2020, Lake County Democratic Party Chair Lauren Beth Gash had enough weighted votes to choose his replacement. She picked Johnson because of her “commitment to the community, professionalism and public service.”
“She’s continued to demonstrate those qualities in the state Senate, and Lake County is proud to have her representing and working for us locally and in Springfield,” Gash, who was at the event Tuesday, said afterward. “Her constituents are very lucky.”
Also watching Johnson receive her honor was state Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Lake Forest. Morrison has worked regularly with Johnson since Johnson’s appointment and subsequent election to the Senate.
“The foundation for her compassion and dedication began in Buffalo Grove and now serves her entire Senate district as well as our state,” Morrison said after the event. “I am so proud to serve with her.”
