McHenry County Blog

Yesterday, I wrote an article on the Cary gravel pit opponents’ new web site.

They have picked up the name www.caryillinois.org.

How about that?

It sounds like the official web site for Cary, Illinois, doesn’t it?

It’s not.

It is skillful ridicule of the Cary politicians who want to put a gravel pit on the second side of Fox Trails subdivision.

Today, I thought I’d look at how the two videos that the group has produced. (Actually, it’s Bruce David Janu Janu who deserves the credit for this wonderful citizen guerilla warfare.)

Today, I thought I’d look at how the two videos that the group has produced. (Actually, it’s Bruce David Janu who deserves the credit for this wonderful citizen guerrilla warfare.)

The first one,

has been seen by 865 viewers. It gives the ownership of Meyer Material, the used-to-be local company in a most gripping manner. It was 789 when I last checked in on July 25th.

The main web site of the opponents is

The second video, “Beautiful Cary” is more into ridicule than information and it succeeds so well. 608 have viewed it so far, even though it is over 7 minutes long. It was 515 on July 25th.

I love the dust angle part.

So How Are the Cary Gravel Pit Opponents Videos Doing

Yesterday, I wrote an article on the Cary gravel pit opponents’ new web site.

They have picked up the name www.caryillinois.org.

How about that?

It sounds like the official web site for Cary, Illinois, doesn’t it?

It’s not.

It is skillful ridicule of the Cary politicians who want to put a gravel pit on the second side of Fox Trails subdivision.

Today, I thought I’d look at how the two videos that the group has produced. (Actually, it’s Bruce David Janu who deserves the credit for this wonderful citizen guerilla warfare.)

The first one,
“Cary, Illinois: A Gravel Pit Community?”
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6546217386573707509
has been seen by 865 viewers. It gives the ownership of Meyer Material, the used-to-be local company in a most gripping manner. It was 789 when I last checked in on July 25th. http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2007/07/cary-gravel-pit-video-wins-snarky.html

The main web site of the opponents is “Stop the Quarry in Cary.” http://noquarry.blogspot.com/

The second video, “Beautiful Cary” http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3261632258347602099 is more into ridicule than information and it succeeds so well. 608 have viewed it so far, even though it is over 7 minutes long. It was 515 on July 25th.

I love the dust angle part.

They have certainly got more 378 views that my YouTube posting of Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley and developer Bill Cellini talking about condemnation at the Wal-Mart shopping center have gotten.

Those crazy gravel pit opponents in Cary continue to crack me up.

They have just put up an “Official” web site for the Village of Cary. It’s www.caryillinois.org.

Looks real at first glance, doesn’t it?

This is citizen guerrilla warfare at its best.

It even comes with fake ads. the fine print is worth clicking on them so you will be able to read it.

At the top of its home page is

Three pieces of mining equipment are on the masthead.

Underneath is the slogan,

Another welcome and, below,

And below that is a sign-in form for gravel pits.

“If you are a mining company and wish to mine in Cary, please fill out the form below. Someone from the Village will get back to you shortly.”

That is too much!

Besides contact information, the company is asked, “What would you like to mine?”

A drop down box lists all sorts of minerals.

It has me howling.

Read the list:

Aluminum
Amber
Anything
Bauxite
Clay
Coal
Copper
Diamonds
Dinosour bones
Dirt
Emeralds
Everything
Fluoride
Fossilized dung
Gold
Granite
Gravel
Gypsum
Iron ore
Lead
Loam
Natural gas
Nothing, I’m just digging
Peat
Peridotite
Petroleum
Plutonium
Pretty rocks
Rubies
Salt
Sand
Sea Shells
Silver
Sulfur
Uranium
Very big rocks
Worms
Zinc

OK. Maybe it’s funnier on the new web site.

Next comes the questions:

“Yearly donation to the village?”

“In addition to the above per annum, what else are you willing to donate to Cary?”

“Nothing

“A very big hole

“A murky lake

“Pollution, dust and noise”

Then, there is a disclaimer.

Here’s the first line:

“This site is political satire and parody. If you are looking for the real Village of Cary website, click here.”

You have to read the questions and answers, especially, the one about how “caryillinois.com” web site was obtained.

It will be an eye opener to other governmental entities, I’ll bet.

There’s a history of Cary. It’s a hoax, of course, but read this paragraph:

“In 1842, while digging a latrine for his burgeoning family, William (Cary) hit a pocket of gravel. The gravel was strong and the layer was vast. While running some errands in Crystal Lake, William mentioned his find to Cornelius Meyer, the owner of a local general store. Cornelius not only collected what he called “pretty rocks,” he provided gravel to locals who needed it for building supplies.”

For those of you new to the controversy, the gravel pit that wants to expand its next door Algonquin pit to a second side of Fox Trails subdivision is Meyer Materials.

There’s even a mayor’s welcome, complete with letter.

It is signed satirically by

Mayor Stan Loamal

PS. When visiting Cary, please stop by the Visitor’s Center across from the railroad station and pick up your complimentary dust mask, courtesy of Meyer Material Co.

The real village president, who insists on the title “mayor,” is Steven Lamal.

On another page is a map of Cary with every big vacant parcel showing a gravel pit.

Tourism is on another.

There is a Pit Czar ink.

The guy’s name is Chairman “Jon” Turncoatier.

An outsider like myself can only wonder what that is all about. The page seems to be making fun of the chairman of Cary’s Zoning Board of Appeals. It says that he changed his name to “Chairman” because that’s all anyone ever called him anyway.

I guarantee there is no way that I can capture everything worth looking at on this new “official” web site for the Village of Cary.

Look at it yourself.

All the images may be enlarged by clicking on them, but why not enjoy the original.

It’s so much fun.

Those crazy gravel pit opponents in Cary continue to crack me up.

They have just put up an “Official” web site for the Village of Cary. It’s www.caryillinois.org.

Looks real at first glance, doesn’t it?

This is citizen guerrilla warfare at its best.

It even comes with fake ads. the fine print is worth clicking on them so you will be able to read it.

At the top of its home page is

Three pieces of mining equipment are on the masthead.

Underneath is the slogan,

Another welcome and, below,

And below that is a sign-in form for gravel pits.

“If you are a mining company and wish to mine in Cary, please fill out the form below. Someone from the Village will get back to you shortly.”

That is too much!

Besides contact information, the company is asked, “What would you like to mine?”

A drop down box lists all sorts of minerals.

It has me howling.

Read the list:

Aluminum
Amber
Anything
Bauxite
Clay
Coal
Copper
Diamonds
Dinosour bones
Dirt
Emeralds
Everything
Fluoride
Fossilized dung
Gold
Granite
Gravel
Gypsum
Iron ore
Lead
Loam
Natural gas
Nothing, I’m just digging
Peat
Peridotite
Petroleum
Plutonium
Pretty rocks
Rubies
Salt
Sand
Sea Shells
Silver
Sulfur
Uranium
Very big rocks
Worms
Zinc

OK. Maybe it’s funnier on the new web site.

Next comes the questions:

“Yearly donation to the village?”

“In addition to the above per annum, what else are you willing to donate to Cary?”

“Nothing

“A very big hole

“A murky lake

“Pollution, dust and noise”

Then, there is a disclaimer.

Here’s the first line:

“This site is political satire and parody. If you are looking for the real Village of Cary website, click here.”

You have to read the questions and answers, especially, the one about how “caryillinois.com” web site was obtained.

It will be an eye opener to other governmental entities, I’ll bet.

There’s a history of Cary. It’s a hoax, of course, but read this paragraph:

“In 1842, while digging a latrine for his burgeoning family, William (Cary) hit a pocket of gravel. The gravel was strong and the layer was vast. While running some errands in Crystal Lake, William mentioned his find to Cornelius Meyer, the owner of a local general store. Cornelius not only collected what he called “pretty rocks,” he provided gravel to locals who needed it for building supplies.”

For those of you new to the controversy, the gravel pit that wants to expand its next door Algonquin pit to a second side of Fox Trails subdivision is Meyer Materials.

There’s even a mayor’s welcome, complete with letter.

It is signed satirically by

Mayor Stan Loamal

PS. When visiting Cary, please stop by the Visitor’s Center across from the railroad station and pick up your complimentary dust mask, courtesy of Meyer Material Co.

The real village president, who insists on the title “mayor,” is Steven Lamal.

On another page is a map of Cary with every big vacant parcel showing a gravel pit.

Tourism is on another.

There is a Pit Czar ink.

The guy’s name is Chairman “Jon” Turncoatier.

An outsider like myself can only wonder what that is all about. The page seems to be making fun of the chairman of Cary’s Zoning Board of Appeals. It says that he changed his name to “Chairman” because that’s all anyone ever called him anyway.

I guarantee there is no way that I can capture everything worth looking at on this new “official” web site for the Village of Cary.

Look at it yourself.

All the images may be enlarged by clicking on them, but why not enjoy the original.

It’s so much fun.

“One Heck of a Guy” blogger Allan Showalter has done it again.

Applying his advanced sense of humor to the efforts by Cary Village President Steve Lamal (who calls himself “Mayor”…did you know village presidents got a law passed allowing them to call themselves “Mayor?” Thanks to a municipal attorney for cluing me in.) and village trustees to approve a gravel pit west of the Fox Trails subdivision to match the one south of the development, approved by the Village of Algonquin has resulted in an article longer than this run-on sentence.

(I blame my convoluted sentences on having taken German.)

In any event, Showalter thoroughly examines the Cary gravel pit opponents’ “chamber of commerce” video and decides it’s worthy of

He observes,

“While it’s painful to admit, I’m unable to camouflage the fact that this post falls into the do-good and community-oriented classifications.”

And

“Oddly, the residents of Cary, particularly those with homes near the company- picked site – an area zoned for residential use only – are not unanimously in favor of the proposal. Some, in fact, are perversely opposed to a mine operating across the street.”

You should really watch the videos, prepared by Cary’s Bruce Janu:

the 4 minute and 12 second one about the threat, viewed 789 times and

the 7 minute and 34 seconds one “chamber of commerce” one, viewed 515 times.

= = = = =
The montages are from the “chamber of commerce” video by way of “One Heck of A Guy” blog. They can be enlarged by clicking on them.

“One Heck of a Guy” blogger Allan Showalter has done it again.

Applying his advanced sense of humor to the efforts by Cary Village President Steve Lamal (who calls himself “Mayor”…did you know village presidents got a law passed allowing them to call themselves “Mayor?” Thanks to a municipal attorney for cluing me in.) and village trustees to approve a gravel pit west of the Fox Trails subdivision to match the one south of the development, approved by the Village of Algonquin has resulted in an article longer than this run-on sentence.

(I blame my convoluted sentences on having taken German.)

In any event, Showalter thoroughly examines the Cary gravel pit opponents’ “chamber of commerce” video and decides it’s worthy of

He observes,

“While it’s painful to admit, I’m unable to camouflage the fact that this post falls into the do-good and community-oriented classifications.”

And

“Oddly, the residents of Cary, particularly those with homes near the company- picked site – an area zoned for residential use only – are not unanimously in favor of the proposal. Some, in fact, are perversely opposed to a mine operating across the street.”

You should really watch the videos, prepared by Cary’s Bruce Janu:

the 4 minute and 12 second one about the threat, viewed 789 times and

the 7 minute and 34 seconds one “chamber of commerce” one, viewed 515 times.

= = = = =
The montages are from the “chamber of commerce” video by way of “One Heck of A Guy” blog. They can be enlarged by clicking on them.

474 for the newest video that starts like a typical chamber of commerce promotion and then turns bitingly satirical. If you don’t want to watch the video, but want a flavor, I hope you can get it here.

The original video, which points out the Swiss ownership of Meyer Material, among other things, has been viewed by 777 people. My article on it can be found here.

The little girl is seen making “dust angels” in the second video. I’m listening to the audio as I type this and it has me chuckling again.

474 for the newest video that starts like a typical chamber of commerce promotion and then turns bitingly satirical. If you don’t want to watch the video, but want a flavor, I hope you can get it here.

The original video, which points out the Swiss ownership of Meyer Material, among other things, has been viewed by 777 people. My article on it can be found here.

The little girl is seen making “dust angels” in the second video. I’m listening to the audio as I type this and it has me chuckling again.

Successful citizen uprisings have a long history in McHenry County.

Tuesday, two more groups won big victories for their neighborhoods.

Nunda Neighbors, who first fought off a truck depot, now have won a 17-6 zoning victory against those developers who wished to turn their residential area into a strip mall.

Located west of Woodstock, Seneca Township homeowners saw a gravel pit go down to defeat 19-4.

Both had neighborhood sign campaigns and web sites.
(Seneca Township;
Nunda Neighbors.)

As Northwest Herald reporter Kevin Craver pointed out, four of the six votes against what the local people wanted came from the same people:

• County Board Chairman Ken Koehler of Crystal Lake
• Marc Munaretto of Algonquin,
• Mary Lou Zierer, who lives between Marengo and Harvard and
• Dan Shea of Fox River Grove

The two extra, who ignored the Nunda Neighbors’ pleas were

• Sue Draffkorn of Wonder Lake and
• Lyn Orphal of Crystal Lake.

All of the county board members voting in opposition to the local residents pleas are Republican.

It is pretty extraordinary for a county board chairman to be on the losing side of issues. I have not been keeping track, but, besides these zoning issues, Crystal Lake’s Koehler has been in the minority

• on the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax fight,
• banning flash photography and
• the attempt to spend $773,000 more on renovating the old State Farm Insurance building on Route 14 into an animal control shelter.

= = = = =
The head shot is of McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler.

Successful citizen uprisings have a long history in McHenry County.

Tuesday, two more groups won big victories for their neighborhoods.

Nunda Neighbors, who first fought off a truck depot, now have won a 17-6 zoning victory against those developers who wished to turn their residential area into a strip mall.

Located west of Woodstock, Seneca Township homeowners saw a gravel pit go down to defeat 19-4.

Both had neighborhood sign campaigns and web sites.
(Seneca Township;
Nunda Neighbors.)

As Northwest Herald reporter Kevin Craver pointed out, four of the six votes against what the local people wanted came from the same people:

• County Board Chairman Ken Koehler of Crystal Lake
• Marc Munaretto of Algonquin,
• Mary Lou Zierer, who lives between Marengo and Harvard and
• Dan Shea of Fox River Grove

The two extra, who ignored the Nunda Neighbors’ pleas were

• Sue Draffkorn of Wonder Lake and
• Lyn Orphal of Crystal Lake.

All of the county board members voting in opposition to the local residents pleas are Republican.

It is pretty extraordinary for a county board chairman to be on the losing side of issues. I have not been keeping track, but, besides these zoning issues, Crystal Lake’s Koehler has been in the minority

• on the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax fight,
• banning flash photography and
• the attempt to spend $773,000 more on renovating the old State Farm Insurance building on Route 14 into an animal control shelter.

= = = = =
The head shot is of McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler.

The Cary Gravel Pit opponents have come up with another video, “Welcome to Cary.”

It’s to the right on top of the blog, “Stop the Quarry in Cary”, as of Tuesday when this was written.

The video looks like a Chamber of Commerce production until it gets to the line,

“And Cary also has beautiful gravel pits.”

This is a video that Cary developers and others wanting to attract people to Cary should do everything they can to get removed from the internet.

It’s a “hit ‘em in the pocketbook” video. It reminds me of the 2000 Saturday picket signs telling people driving on Algonquin Road near some model homes that high power lines were going to go behind the homes they were looking at. I’m pretty sure the developer joined their cause.

If it stays on the internet, it will be out there greeting those thinking of moving to Cary.

I doubt many people who look at it would give Cary a second thought.

Not only is the Meyer Material pit shown, but so are gravel trucks.

Next there is a hilarious series of interviews of people who say they have moved to Cary because of the gravel pits.

A father relates why his family moved to Cary:

“We moved to Cary because it was the best place to raise our kids. It has a small town atmosphere and great schools..but, most of all, it has gravel pits.”

A little tyke in one of those little red and yellow cars wearing a mask can be seen on the sidewalk.

“I love gravel pits,” the little boy says.

“We’re so happy we moved to Cary so we could enjoy the gravel pits,” the wife of an older couple says. “It’s one of the reasons we came here. We heard how beautiful they were.”

“Yeah, we like the schools and the parks,” another man says, “but what really brought us here to Cary, honestly–the gravel pits. They are gorgeous. I just can’t imagine Cary without them. And you know what, I heard at one time Cary didn’t allow gravel pits. Can you believe it? A town without gravel pits?” He then greets a neighbor wearing a mask.

“Really, it’s the gravel pits that give Cary a sense of community. I don’t know where we’d be without them.”

‘I love drawing in the dust,” another little boy tells his mother, who points out that crayons are expensive, while dust is free.

“I just love making dust angels…all year long,” another little girl explains.

“I love this pit. It’s just like my own personal Grand Canyon,” the final man adds before he has a coughing fit. “It’s the reason I moved here,” he says before urging others to Cary.

Here’s the concluding description of the Village of Cary:

A small, dusty, loud community in suburban Chicago. A Main Street Gravel Pit USA Community.

And the next line is too funny:

Cary is owned and operated by Meyer Material Company,

which is owned and operated by Aggregate Industries,

which is owned and operated by Holcim, Ltd.

After that is read comes a cough and then two more, plus a little girl saying, “I like gravel pits,” before she coughs.

The original video, which I have praised as the best zoning opposition video I have ever seen, has been viewed 557 times. Click on “See the Movie” near the top right of the screen. The first video is the second on Google’s list of videos.

I wonder when the Daily Herald, the Northwest Herald or the Chicago Tribune will notice the videos. They certainly are an innovation in McHenry County politics.

The group has has also been doing its homework on the pollution violations of Meyer Materials Swiss-based owner, Holcim, Ltd.. Take a look at EPA Violations by owners of Meyer Material Co.

There is also an estimate of the Cary subdivisions that will be affected by the doubling the size of Meyer Materials’ gravel pit.

The next meeting will be Thursday night at 7:30 at the Holiday Inn in Crystal Lake. I’d be there, but there is a McHenry Marlins swim meet. If anyone wants to take and email me some photos, I’ll be happy to put them up on McHenry County Blog.

All the images come from the second video, except the Google video search for “Cary, Illinois.” All can be enlarged by clicking on them.