Community leader and local lawyer Greg Musil was in “absolute shock” last week when he was honored with the Rick Worrel Community Legacy Award.
The award, given annually in honor of the life of a dedicated community leader, was presented to Musil at the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce’s yearly meeting on Dec. 4.
Musil has been involved in Overland Park for decades
- Musil is a law partner at Kansas City firm Rouse Frets White Goss Gentile Rhodes, P.C., which has him representing developers — like Occidental Management for their Aspira project — on Overland Park projects.
- He also previously served two terms on the Overland Park City Council, including a stint as council president, as well as three terms as a member of the Johnson County Community College Board of Trustees.
- Additionally, he’s also a long-time participant in Overland Park Chamber activities, beginning in the 1990s when he participated in its Leadership Overland Park program.
- Musil went on to serve as chamber board chair in 2008, currently serves on its Public Policy Committee and is the emcee of the chamber’s “Good Morning, Overland Park” breakfast event every year.
- He also chaired the Johnson County Charter Commission in 2021 and co-chaired the Overland Park strategic planning process a few years ago called ForwardOP.
- Outside of local involvement, he has served on the Advancement Council for the K-State School of Leadership Studies, was the chair of the Kansas Bar Association and has participated with the Kansas Leadership Center.
Musil draws inspiration from his Kansas upbringing
Growing up on a farm about three miles west of Frankfort, Kansas, Musil said he learned a lot about contributing to one’s community.
“Everybody was expected to contribute and find a way to make the community better,” Musil said.
When he came to Overland Park later, he brought those lessons with him.
“I took that training from my parents and tried to apply it in a bigger city,” he said.
Chamber award is named for a friend of Musil’s
The Community Legacy Award is named after longtime Overland Park leader and engineer Rick Worrel, who passed away in 2019 at age 58. He was heavily involved with the Overland Park Chamber and United Community Services of Johnson County as well as city initiatives over the years.
Worrel was also an advocate for CPR and AED training after his own experience with a sudden cardiac arrest in 2016.
Musil said he was honored to receive the award named for his friend, adding that he “was kind of overwhelmed with the thought that I would be associated with someone who was that well thought of.”
“It’s an honor when somebody says, ‘You remind me of X,’ and somebody says, ‘Maybe you remind me of Rick Worrel, that is an incredible honor and very meaningful to me,” Musil said.
Local Lions Club also honored at chamber meeting
- The chamber also gave the OP Award to the Overland Park Host Lions Club during the annual meeting on Wednesday.
- According to a news release from the chamber, the award was created to “recognize ordinary people who do extraordinary things” in the community.
- The Lions Club chapter in Overland Park was established in 1956, and was picked for the award because of its Avenue of Flags celebrations, where it puts hundreds of flags on Metcalf Avenue on big holidays.
- The local Host Lions Club started placing the flags in 1965 and continues doing so to this day with the help of veterans and Boy Scouts.
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