McHenry County Blog


Archive for the ‘Kitchen Militia’

The Nancy Scalero Story – Part 2

November 25, 2008 By: Cal Skinner Category: Alex Scalero, Kitchen Militia, Mary Scalero, Nancy Scalero, Republican Precinct Committeeman, Richard Scalero, Toastmasters

Yesterday, I gave a hint of what interested Crystal Laker Nancy Scalero, who died in August. I found evidence of her Kitchen Militia in the minutes of April 18, 2000, McHenry County Board meeting.

At a September gathering we had, many proclaimed her the “Captain” of the Kitchen Militia.

She was also a Republican Precinct Committeeman in McHenry County.

Her 26-year old daughter Mary spoke for her father Richard and younger brother Alex.

What follows are what I got from her notes. It will be much less elegant than Mary’s talk, but I am working from her outline.

Mary told how she had joined Toastmasters a few months ago to learn how to make speeches, but “I haven’t yet made a single speech. This is my first speech, my most difficult.

“Papa, Alex and I put together the photo boards sorting through pile after pile of photos, but just couldn’t find enough to capture every moment.

“We could fill thousands and thousands of boards with pictures and memories from a lifetime, but it will would not be enough. There’s no way to capture it all:

  • The memories
  • Her smile
  • Her laugh
  • Her jokes

“How can I explain in a few minutes everything Mom meant to me?

“Squeeze thousands of memories into just a few lines?

“So, I’ve picked some favorite memories to share.

“She was so caring.

“Me, I was a handful. I played hide-n-seek when shopping.

“I ran off to hide, giggling.

“Mom was terrified.

“She bought bungee things (to attach to me).

“I figured out how to remove them.

“She bought a roller coaster type harness to retrofit the stroller.

“Other people would make mean comments, that she was a bad parent…(but it didn’t stop her from seeing to me safety).

“We laughed so hard when retelling that story.

“She did what she had to keep us safe, despite all the awful comments and stares.

“I talked to Alex when he was a baby in the crib and she listened through the baby monitor. Once I tried to pick him up out of the crib.

“She got so choked up as she explained how fast she ran to stop me from hurting myself or Alex.

“She was always there to keep us from getting hurt.

The third installment of the Nancy Scalero story will appear tomorrow.

The Nancy Scalero Story – Part 2

November 24, 2008 By: Cal Skinner Category: Alex Scalero, Kitchen Militia, Mary Scalero, Nancy Scalero, Republican Precinct Committeeman, Richard Scalero, Toastmasters

Yesterday, I gave a hint of what interested Crystal Laker Nancy Scalero, who died in August. I found evidence of her Kitchen Militia in the minutes of April 18, 2000, McHenry County Board meeting.

At a September gathering we had, many proclaimed her the “Captain” of the Kitchen Militia.

She was also a Republican Precinct Committeeman in McHenry County.

Her 26-year old daughter Mary spoke for her father Richard and younger brother Alex.

What follows are what I got from her notes. It will be much less elegant than Mary’s talk, but I am working from her outline.

Mary told how she had joined Toastmasters a few months ago to learn how to make speeches, but “I haven’t yet made a single speech. This is my first speech, my most difficult.

“Papa, Alex and I put together the photo boards sorting through pile after pile of photos, but just couldn’t find enough to capture every moment.

“We could fill thousands and thousands of boards with pictures and memories from a lifetime, but it will would not be enough. There’s no way to capture it all:

  • The memories
  • Her smile
  • Her laugh
  • Her jokes

“How can I explain in a few minutes everything Mom meant to me?

“Squeeze thousands of memories into just a few lines?

“So, I’ve picked some favorite memories to share.

“She was so caring.

“Me, I was a handful. I played hide-n-seek when shopping.

“I ran off to hide, giggling.

“Mom was terrified.

“She bought bungee things (to attach to me).

“I figured out how to remove them.

“She bought a roller coaster type harness to retrofit the stroller.

“Other people would make mean comments, that she was a bad parent…(but it didn’t stop her from seeing to me safety).

“We laughed so hard when retelling that story.

“She did what she had to keep us safe, despite all the awful comments and stares.

“I talked to Alex when he was a baby in the crib and she listened through the baby monitor. Once I tried to pick him up out of the crib.

“She got so choked up as she explained how fast she ran to stop me from hurting myself or Alex.

“She was always there to keep us from getting hurt.

The third installment of the Nancy Scalero story will appear tomorrow.

The Nancy Scalero Story – Part 1

November 24, 2008 By: Cal Skinner Category: Annette Mrugacz, Anton P. Rebel, Cathy Klocek, Dan Weise, Deanna Gardner, Healthy Families, Jan Taylor, JoAnne Neumann, Karen Verr, Kitchen Militia, Mary Scalero, Pat Baseggio, Ruth Anzinger

There’s no way to do justice to conservative activist and former Republican precinct committeeman Nancy Scalero. Born March 18th, 1952, she died August 13th at age 56

I always have trouble spelling her name, so I typed it with an “e” into Google’s search engine and here’s what popped up from the April 18, 2000, McHenry County Board minutes

The following individuals spoke on the amendment to the Healthy Families Program to address the increase in cases of child abuse in McHenry County:
  • Pat Baseggio, 2104 Edgewood, Woodstock – AGAINST
  • Cathy Klocek, 2108 Edgewood, Woodstock – AGAINST
  • Jan Taylor, 601 Huron Tr., Lake in the Hills – AGAINST
  • Liz Doyle, 101 N. Virginia St., Crystal Lake – FOR
  • Denise Teresi, 521 Valerian, Woodstock – FOR
  • Mary Moltmann, 216 S. Fleming, Woodstock – FOR
  • Karen Verr, 4911 Flanders Rd., McHenry – AGAINST
  • Annette Mrugacz, 7308 S. Grant Hwy., Marengo – AGAINST
  • Ruth Anzinger, 8417 Regnier Rd., Hebron – AGAINST
  • Lesta Christophersen, 1939 N. Tappan, Woodstock – FOR
  • Dan Weise, 7106 Dunham, Union – AGAINST
  • Christy Yurgaitis, 7105 Hickory Nut Grove Rd., Cary – FOR
  • JoAnne Neumann, 1509 W. Lakeview, McHenry – AGAINST
  • Deanna Gardner, 406 Shepherd Hill, McHenry – AGAINST
  • Anton P. Rebel, 4009 Maple Ave., McHenry – AGAINST
  • Sally Fyfe Stachniak, 310 S. Rose Farm, Woodstock – FOR
  • Carlos Acosta – FOR
  • Barbara Amsler MD, 16411 Harmony Rd., Union – FOR (also filed a petition with the County Clerk)
  • Nancy Scalero, 1385 Loch Lomond, Crystal Lake – AGAINST
  • Denise Soling, 11819 Heron Dr., Huntley – FOR

Nancy could have been the only opponent and it wouldn’t have bothered her. She was the leader of the Kitchen Militia.

She knew this so-called “Healthy Families” initiative was just a way for government to intrude more into people’s lives. She thought the county board should continue to refuse to approve accepting the $102,800 grant for the Health Department.

Because McHenry County Board Chairman Mike Tryon ruled that a two-thirds vote would be required to approve the grant—because there had been insufficient prior notice of the motion–the motion to rescind approval of the grant failed, receiving 13 votes, instead of the 16 required.

Just for the record, here’s what the minutes said about who voted how:

The roll being called,
Members Jung, Kate, Larson, Munaretto, Orsolini, Peschke, Rhyner, Schaefer, Shea, Dwyer, Gilman, Jim Heisler and Tryon voting aye.

Nay: John Heisler, Hoover, Meyers, Root, Schuster, Zierer, Brewer, Dusthimer, Dvorak and Hammerand.

Absent: Colomer.

The vote being thirteen (13) ayes, ten (10) nays and one (1) absent, the Chairman declared the motion failed for lack of a two-thirds (2/3) vote

Knowing Nancy and her voluminous files, I’d bet that she did the research on the underbelly of this program, which I am pretty sure started in Hawaii. One of the indicators there that one might be abusive to one’s children was whether one had had an abortion. I’m amazed that supporters of abortion never picked up on that little piece of information.

Although the minutes give a pretty good idea of the type of government programs that set Nancy off, they pale in comparison to the eulogy that her daughter Mary gave at the Davenport Family Funeral Home in Crystal Lake.

She has been kind enough to supply me with her notes, which, I would stress, I cannot flush out the way she did that sad day.

You can start reading them tomorrow.

The Nancy Scalero Story – Part 1

November 23, 2008 By: Cal Skinner Category: Annette Mrugacz, Anton P. Rebel, Cathy Klocek, Dan Weise, Deanna Gardner, Healthy Families, Jan Taylor, JoAnne Neumann, Karen Verr, Kitchen Militia, Mary Scalero, Pat Baseggio, Ruth Anzinger

There’s no way to do justice to conservative activist and former Republican precinct committeeman Nancy Scalero. Born March 18th, 1952, she died August 13th at age 56

I always have trouble spelling her name, so I typed it with an “e” into Google’s search engine and here’s what popped up from the April 18, 2000, McHenry County Board minutes

The following individuals spoke on the amendment to the Healthy Families Program to address the increase in cases of child abuse in McHenry County:
  • Pat Baseggio, 2104 Edgewood, Woodstock – AGAINST
  • Cathy Klocek, 2108 Edgewood, Woodstock – AGAINST
  • Jan Taylor, 601 Huron Tr., Lake in the Hills – AGAINST
  • Liz Doyle, 101 N. Virginia St., Crystal Lake – FOR
  • Denise Teresi, 521 Valerian, Woodstock – FOR
  • Mary Moltmann, 216 S. Fleming, Woodstock – FOR
  • Karen Verr, 4911 Flanders Rd., McHenry – AGAINST
  • Annette Mrugacz, 7308 S. Grant Hwy., Marengo – AGAINST
  • Ruth Anzinger, 8417 Regnier Rd., Hebron – AGAINST
  • Lesta Christophersen, 1939 N. Tappan, Woodstock – FOR
  • Dan Weise, 7106 Dunham, Union – AGAINST
  • Christy Yurgaitis, 7105 Hickory Nut Grove Rd., Cary – FOR
  • JoAnne Neumann, 1509 W. Lakeview, McHenry – AGAINST
  • Deanna Gardner, 406 Shepherd Hill, McHenry – AGAINST
  • Anton P. Rebel, 4009 Maple Ave., McHenry – AGAINST
  • Sally Fyfe Stachniak, 310 S. Rose Farm, Woodstock – FOR
  • Carlos Acosta – FOR
  • Barbara Amsler MD, 16411 Harmony Rd., Union – FOR (also filed a petition with the County Clerk)
  • Nancy Scalero, 1385 Loch Lomond, Crystal Lake – AGAINST
  • Denise Soling, 11819 Heron Dr., Huntley – FOR

Nancy could have been the only opponent and it wouldn’t have bothered her. She was the leader of the Kitchen Militia.

She knew this so-called “Healthy Families” initiative was just a way for government to intrude more into people’s lives. She thought the county board should continue to refuse to approve accepting the $102,800 grant for the Health Department.

Because McHenry County Board Chairman Mike Tryon ruled that a two-thirds vote would be required to approve the grant—because there had been insufficient prior notice of the motion–the motion to rescind approval of the grant failed, receiving 13 votes, instead of the 16 required.

Just for the record, here’s what the minutes said about who voted how:

The roll being called,
Members Jung, Kate, Larson, Munaretto, Orsolini, Peschke, Rhyner, Schaefer, Shea, Dwyer, Gilman, Jim Heisler and Tryon voting aye.

Nay: John Heisler, Hoover, Meyers, Root, Schuster, Zierer, Brewer, Dusthimer, Dvorak and Hammerand.

Absent: Colomer.

The vote being thirteen (13) ayes, ten (10) nays and one (1) absent, the Chairman declared the motion failed for lack of a two-thirds (2/3) vote

Knowing Nancy and her voluminous files, I’d bet that she did the research on the underbelly of this program, which I am pretty sure started in Hawaii. One of the indicators there that one might be abusive to one’s children was whether one had had an abortion. I’m amazed that supporters of abortion never picked up on that little piece of information.

Although the minutes give a pretty good idea of the type of government programs that set Nancy off, they pale in comparison to the eulogy that her daughter Mary gave at the Davenport Family Funeral Home in Crystal Lake.

She has been kind enough to supply me with her notes, which, I would stress, I cannot flush out the way she did that sad day.

You can start reading them tomorrow.

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