The Evanston Community Foundation aimed to illuminate the city’s history, economic development and educational successes in its annual Snapshot Evanston event Thursday.

“It’s Evanston in a day,” said Beth Osterlund, director of Leadership Evanston, the organization that planned the event. “It’s great for people who just arrived here, people who are around for a day or people who just want to learn about Evanston. We go around and talk about the things that make this town what it is.”

This year, 27 people registered for the event, which began at 8:30 a.m. The day began with a bus tour sharing Evanston’s history.

Upon returning to the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, participants heard from city officials, including Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd) and Steve Griffin, the city’s director of community and economic development, among others.

Later, Sara Schastok, president and CEO of the Evanston Community Foundation, discussed the city’s strengths, particularly how residents come together to strengthen the community.

Attendee Tricia Bulaclac, activities director at the North Shore Retirement Hotel, was particularly impressed with the education talk from Hardy Murphy, Evanston-Skokie District 65 superintendent,  and Eric Witherspoon, superintendent for Evanston Township High School District 202.

For closing remarks, Burgwell Howard, Northwestern’s assistant vice president for student engagement in student affairs, delivered a speech focusing on the relationship between NU and the greater Evanston area.

Snapshot Evanston is only one of the many events designed to encourage collaboration among community members and a better understanding of Evanston, Osterlund said.

Andrea Densham, executive director of the Childcare Network in Evanston, said it was “wonderful” meeting other members of the community at the event.

“It continues to impress me how Evanston keeps developing,” Densham said. “It’s inspiring to be part of a community that’s so committed to making Evanston a better place.”