Dunning Auctions Service's founder to lead meeting
Retired Dunning Auctions Service's founder C.P. Terry Dunning will discuss his leadership style at the next Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce popular series, CEO Unplugged, sponsored by the Grand Victoria Casino.
The luncheon will be held Thursday, May 3, at the Grand Victoria Casino pavilion, 250 S. Grove in the Fox River Room at 11:30 a.m. for registration with buffet luncheon at 11:45 a.m. Questions and networking to follow. Tickets are $20 in advance ($25 at the door). Reservations can be made at ElginChamber.com.
Throughout his life, Dunning has received awards and accolades, statewide, nationally and internationally for his profession and company, Dunning's Auction Service. The Dunning family legacy dates back to 1896 when Frank Dunning began selling livestock to supplement his farming income. By the 1920s, the company was handling real estate and furniture. In the 1960s, Dunning's added fine art and antiques.
Dunning is a member of the National Auctioneers Association Hall of Fame and has remained committed to Elgin through a lifetime of community service. As a local business owner, he served as Chairman of the Board of the Elgin Area Chamber in 1994 and is a longtime volunteer of the Chamber.
He has held many board and committee positions at notable Elgin institutions, including his church, First United Methodist Church. He was a founding member of the First Community Bank, which was acquired by Wintrust last year.
Dunning is a longtime member of the Elgin Noon Rotary Club and served as Club President in 1986 and served all leadership positions within the organization. He led the Paul Harris Fellowship program, achieving 100 percent participation of Club members in the leadership giving program for many years. Dunning helped raise over $130,000 for Rotary's Polio Plus Project, including a benefit concert by Elgin Symphony Orchestra, and donated $7,000 to Elgin's Softball Complex Park Project.
As former chair of the Sherman Hospital board, he helped determine the board's vision, identified the hospital's new location and navigated the process of attaining state approval to build the new Advocate Sherman Hospital. He continues as a hospital volunteer.
Dunning remains in active service to his community and is a friend to local social service agencies and others, continuing to use his auctioneering talents to assist in fundraising at charitable events such as the Community Crisis Center's Annual Auction and Gala, Elgin Community College's Pearl Gala and Centro de Informacion' s Annual Auction.
The CEO Unplugged luncheon series is led by members of the Elgin Area Chamber special events committee: chair Pat Szpekowski, PR Strategies & Communications, and Jennifer Boyle, Manpower: Yvonne Irving, KCT Credit Union; Cate Osterholz, Presence Saint Joseph Hospital; Tena Robotham, Judson University, Michael Storey, Beckatt Solutions, and Carol Gieske, president, Elgin Area Chamber.