Mark Hodge returned to the small Illinois town where he grew up, became mayor, and is making dreams come true
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As we celebrate Black History Month, the mayor of a tiny village 75 miles south of Chicago has made history of his own.
Imagine leaving your family to pursue your dreams back in very place where those dreams began. That's the story of Hopkins Park Mayor Mark Hodge. He said he's not a hometown hero. He just came back to give back.
The halls at Lorenzo Smith Elementary School in Hopkins Park are rich in history. The school is named after its first superintendent, Lorenzo R. Smith, who was the superintendent when Hodge was a student here more than 50 years ago.
Now the same halls are filled with kids who actually know their mayor, and they love when he comes to visit.
"I've been mayor for 10 years, and most of the kids here are of course from K through 8, so I'm the only mayor that they've actually known throughout their entire lives," he said.
What Hodge has known his entire life are the long narrow roads of Hopkins Park, roads he once rode on a horse.
"When I was out here as a kid, we had outhouses, and coal stoves, wood stoves," he said.
In 1979, he left at age 17 to join the U.S. Marines. He then joined the California Department of Corrections.
After nearly three decades, he retired to return to Hopkins Park.
"Along the way, I developed some unique leadership skills, and I thought the best place to use those skills was in my hometown," he said. "I had a yearning to come back and give us some modernization."
He didn't just come back. In 2015, he was elected mayor. It meant a big salary cut, and he found the utopia of his youth had changed.
"When I came into office, we literally did not have a lawnmower," he said. "Today, we literally have three snow removal vehicles where we had none before."
The village just got its first natural gas line, and a badly needed internet connection is coming soon.
"It's very, very heartbreaking, because these kids want to learn. They just need the same resources that we have in other communities," Hodge said.
Over in the heart of town, there's Ewa's Pizza, a family-owned shop that's also Hopkins Park's first pizzeria, and its third restaurant.
"The village of Hopkins Park has very few businesses, so we're just excited to hear that these folks were coming," Hodge said. "Now we are looking to have other industry come to the community now."
Hodge said the rural town has a simple way of life that a big city just can't buy.
"Sitting out under a tree with your family, having a glass of lemonade, and having a family barbecue," he said.
What did Hodge's family think when he returned to Hopkins Park?
"My children that are in California were not the happiest, but they understood that I wanted to be happier in life as well," he said. "So they come out and they visit me."
With his help, the bustling community Hodge once knew is starting to come back, and he said his 10 years as mayor have flown by, saying the decade has been nothing but rewarding.
"It's very rewarding. I'm very privileged. I'm very honored to come and serve my community," he said.
Hodge said he is focused on the future and getting his town up to speed, not only with resources, but industry. He wants to bring in well-paying jobs by enticing companies to plant their roots in Hopkins Park.
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