On Monday, Chicago feted its 2024 Chicagoans of the Year at the Dalcy in the Fulton Market District. The event — sponsored by AARP Chicago, the Dalcy, and Casamigos — was MC’ed by Bill Kurtis, the journalist, television producer, narrator, and news anchor (and judge and scorekeeper for NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!). Honorees Matt DeMatteo, Christy George, and Steve Newcomb accepted their awards and spoke on their work. Although the Chicago Archaeopteryx and Harry Lennix couldn’t be present (for very different reasons), representatives spoke on their behalf.

As Kurtis said in his introduction of the honorees,  “Even in a city that doesn’t always work, we should not forget that there is much that does,” he said. “And people will make that happen every day in the most moving and often surprising and unexpected ways.”