August 2008 Archives

It's not just freshmen who are rooming the halls of Morris High School getting to know their new stomping ground.

The school district hired four new teachers this year and sent out a brief bio of each that I will post below.

If you see these new people make sure to say hello, welcome them to Morris and thank them for taking on a job to help shape Morris High School students into well-rounded adults.

With Bucky Covington coming to Corn Festival, Grundy County has really made it big...even bigger than Mary Kate Olsen's bad taste in fashion.

On TMZ.com today Grundy County has been introduced to the gossip world. TMZ is gossip and celebrity news Web site.

It features a cut out of Bucky holding a corn on the cob with a map of Grundy in the background. The short article titled "Bucky Covington is Huge. . . Somewhere," pokes a little bit of fun at the "American Idol" runner up and Grundy's Corn Fest for making arrangements to move the venue in order to fit the expected large crowd.

See my original story here.

As a woman in her mid-20s it is guaranteed I will attend at least one wedding or baby shower a month throughout the summer.

The more I climb into the 20s the more of my friends, co-workers and family members are getting married. Off the top of my head, so far I have been to five showers this summer and I have three weddings to attend in the next month - two of which I am a bridesmaid.

At every shower you receive a token of the bride or mother-to-be's appreciation. Some of the common ones are a picture frame of the couple, mints in a princess slipper, or cookies in a cute trinket box.

I'm a fan of the edible treats since I'm usually starving when I arrive, and dinner is most likely going to be another hour. I'm even OK with the picture frames because even if I'm not close with the bride and groom, I can replace the picture.

But there are others that are so useless that I'd rather the host just leave me a thank you note on my plate than give me their favor.

Elvis served food and even sang some tunes at Culver's in Morris Aug. 12 in hopes of raising money for Angels of Hope.

Culver's donated 10 percent of its proceeds to the group during the three hour fundraiser and this resulted in a gift of more than $200.

The information below was sent by the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

"If you've been curious about Curves in Morris or just want to know what they have to offer, then stop in on Aug. 27 and 28. Curves will have an open house so you can take a peek.

Curves provides an exercise and weight control program designed specifically for women. Whether you're interested in getting more exercise for health and general condition, or want to lose weight or tone your muscles, Curves can help you establish a regimen to help you meet your goal.

Curves' exercise program consists of 30 minutes of exercise three times a week, during which participants work all major muscle groups and receive a great cardio workout. It includes all five components of a complete exercise program: warm-up, strength training, cardio, cool down, and stretching.

Last night was the Young Professionals Network of the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce & Industry's first cookout. We had a great turnout and the committee thanks all of you for coming.

The YPN is a group for 20s-30s professionals to shake hands, pass out business cards and meet new people in and around Grundy County.

This event was more relaxed compared to the first two events. The first two were also social, but took place at a business place where the concentration was shaking hands as opposed to last night's concentration on bean bags.

The people of Grundy County once again came out in bulk Wednesday to help one of its own non-profit organizations, We Care of Grundy County.

Executive Director Denise Gaska sent out a press release to the media sharing the following story.

We Care provides food, rent, utilities and prescription assistance to Grundy County residents.

On Wednesday Gaska received an unusual, but greatly appreciated donation - 240 cases of Yoplait's Go-Gurt yogurt. A trucker's shipment was declined so he stopped at We Care and offered it. There was so many cases that We Care's office couldn't hold it all so Gaska decided to pass on her good fortune.

Tonight is our Young Professionals Network cook out!

The YPN is a group for 20s-30s professionals to shake hands, pass out business cards and meet new people in and around Grundy County. This group is part of the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce & Industry. I am an official committee member - I feel so important when I say that.

So come join us tonight for $10 at 6 p.m. at the Chamber office in Morris. We are serving hamburgers and hotdogs, and we will have bags and other back yard games. It is BYOB, but we'll have some beverages.

The office is on Liberty Street in downtown Morris in the old train depot. Hope to see you all there. Don't forget your business cards!

Minooka police sent out a warning this weekend alerting users of Baby Trend child safety seats. The specific seats are Magnum, model # 6439, Galaxy model # 6481, Silverado # 6448 and 6400s bases.

The bases were sold separately and manufactured between May 14, 2007 and April 1, 2008. The bases of these seats will be replaced free of charge by Baby Trend.

If you own these seats call Baby Trend at 1-800-328-7363.

If you have questions call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or visit www.safercar.gov.

According to my last blog today's Southwest Weekly was supposed to be on the new MInooka High School, but that is next week! Silly me!

But please check out today's SW on the Gardner Beautification Committee.

The first story I ever wrote about the Minooka High School district was on coverage of my first board meeting where the school discussed planed to build a new high school. That article ran Aug. 5, 2005, less than a week after I got the job here.

I was sent to cover the board's last "study session" of the summer where officials were brain storming the components of a new high school. At this point the district had three failed referendum attempts.

My first meeting was more than three hours long. (Insert sarcastic voice here.) It was a fantastic way to start out my career with The Herald News.

This was the first of many long meetings I covered while on the Minooka High School beat. But what I was witnessing was history in the making for the school district.

On a personal note, when I took the media tour of the finished school Tuesday, it marked the first project I have covered that has come full circle.

Since the wedding is less than two months away (aaargh!), I've been on the lookout for suitable wedding party gifts to thank our attendants for all their help and for helping us celebrate our special day.

Needless to say, the following gifts will probably NOT make the list:

Personalized branding iron

Courtesy www.eminencellc.com.

What the hell is this? Is it a kitschy addition to Texas-themed reception or a way for modern-day Bridezillas to let the maids know who's boss? I know the (blurry) picture shows someone branding a delicious steak, but I know with about eight weeks to go until W-Day, I would be seriously tempted to stab it into someone's unsuspecting flesh. Am I right, ladies?

Bridal party thongs

Courtesy classybride.com

I find it kind of hard to believe that a site called Classy Bride would market a series of bridal party thongs towards unsuspecting wives-to-be. I know I'm not representative of all brides, but of my six attendants, three of them are relatives, and the youngest is 14. Purchasing these would be making a huge assumption on the preferences of my closest friends' personal grooming habits. Also I think they would look on me a little strangely were I to present them with a gift of jeweled underwear at the rehearsal dinner.

Also, boxer-briefs for groomsmen. I'm sorry, but I'm only interested in the underthings of one guy across the aisle, and it ain't a groomsman.

A man-shortie?

Courtesy www.rumors.com

Normally, I wouldn't have an issue with a nice comfy robe. What bothers me, however, is that this was found on a page of groomsman favors.

Best man, indeed.

Engraved beer koozie

Courtesy www.arttowngifts.com

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God, to join together this beer and this bridesmaid in the holy matrimony of cold booze and dry hands for ever and ever. Amen."

So it's getting into August and becoming the time of year when I start to get wistful for the first day of school. Don't get me wrong, I loved summer vacation, but somewhere around mid-July I start to get the itch to get new school supplies. I'm a nerd, I'll admit it. Even the grade-school prospect of new dress shoes for Catholic school was a huge deal (hmmm...brown loafers, black loafers or be daring and get Mary Janes?!).

It's just that the beginning of school made me feel like anything was possible, that maybe this was the year that I was going to be on the high honor roll all four quarters, or that this was the year I was finally going to *get* algebra, or this was the year that the St. Jude's girls basketball team was finally going to have a winning record. (For the record, none of these things ever happened.)

I also dislike hot weather, so I was looking forward to the cooler, leaf-changing months of fall as a relief from scorching August temps. Tell me I'm not the only one who would wear all of their new-school outfits the first week of class even though it was way WAY too hot to be wearing jeans and long-sleeve shirts.

But no, this time of year has me looking forward to the future. I love fall if you can't already tell. I like cooler days and picture-perfect drives to work under a canopy of multicolored trees. I like making apple pies and pumpkin bread and other fall-related treats. And getting closer to Halloween and the themed reading that goes with it (see above: nerd). And on a related note, is it too early to start decorating for Halloween? I was at Michaels the other day looking for wedding stuff and they had all of their fall decorations out and I want to start decorating RIGHT NOW.

Morris Community High School has sent out notice that reserved tickets will be on sale next week.

"Unsold reserved tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, Aug. 8. The tickets will be sold in the high school office from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

All reserved tickets are $20.00 per seat. Any unsold reserved tickets will be available at the gate for each home football game. The home opener is slated for Friday, Sept. 12 against Minooka."