McHenry County Blog

Morning came and the snow was high.

And, there was a beeping noise in the Skinner household.

It was in the basement next to the furnace.

The carbon monoxide detector.

The furnace was off, but why?

Expert in all sorts of things mechanical Marty Walter of Walter Alarm suggested that the pipes to the outside might be covered with snow and he was right.

NICOR redirected my call to the Lakewood Fire Department and a fire truck appeared.

I sent my son and a friend down the driveway to show the firemen which house had made the call.

The boys accomplished their mission.

The sleepover guys had already shoveled out the pipes, but the fireman made sure.

We were just the second call of the day.

Although the roads were passable, there was no traffic.

6 AM New Year’s Day the Woodstock Fire Protection District took over the manning of the Lakewood Fire Department.

Although the phrase “economies of scale” was not mentioned, there was talk of saving the money needed to pay a fire chief under the new arrangement.

Only time will tell whether trading the private enterprise model with non-union and on-call firemen for full-timers who are union members with attendant pension costs will be cost-beneficial.

But since re-organization of Lakewood village services has been put on the village board table as a money-saving idea, let me pass on a suggestion made by Lakewood resident Marty Walter.

There is no doubt that the Lakewood village golf course, Red Tail Golf Club, is in financial trouble.

Village President Erin Smith suggested that the cause was the lack of a good club house.

With that background, Walter suggests that Lakewood cut a deal with the new owners of the Turnberry Country Club to use its club house.

He suggests that managing two 36-hole golf courses that are close together can’t be that much harder than managing one 18-hole golf course.

If one can save the money by not having a fire chief in both Woodstock and Lakewood, maybe there are management savings in the golf course business as well.

Could a route be found so that people could drive their golf carts from one course to the other if they wanted to play 36 holes in one day?

I don’t know the neighborhoods, but it would seem that might be possible. After all, people drive golf carts on the roads in Sun City. State law allows a municipality to make that possible.

Could a deal be cut on club house revenue? Maybe it could be based on rounds played on the respective courses.

“What use would be made of the current Red Tail club house (trailers cobbled together)?” I asked.

Walter suggested that some use could be found, maybe as a training facility. Maybe the current trailers could be removed and the heating and cooling costs saved.

The details of any such joint operating agreement would have to be worked out by those knowing more about the business than Walter or I.

But, the possibility that taxpayers throughout Lakewood might get stuck with future taxes beyond next year’s to pay off the bonds that purchased the golf course just before the real estate Tax Cap would have made it impossible without referendum approval is a non-starter with me.

I shall certainly be asking all of the candidates for village board what they plan for Red Tail’s future.

Taxing me and my neighbors to pay for anything in this enterprise that was sold as and should be self-supporting won’t be part of the answer for those I support for election in my part of town.

I suggested at the last village board meeting that the land be sold to a developer. Smith said that neighbors wouldn’t like to have townhouses where they thought would be a golf course.

Of course, I did not suggest what type of housing might be built. That would be up to the village board.

I do know that there is no added benefit to me and my neighbors from the village’s ownership of a golf course. Our property values are tied to our proximity to Crystal Lake (the lake, not the city).

If those who do benefit directly from it want to buy the golf course, more power to them.

Or they could join others on what might be called the “Exit Strategy Committee” to find a way to keep the golf course there, but to make it self-supporting.

Who knows, maybe Turnberry Country Club might even let the village board hold meetings at its club house. I can’t image it would be busy enough not to have an empty room for the once-a-month Tuesday night meetings.

Three Crystal Lake businessmen have stepped up to the plate to help Crystal Lake’s

P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL Receives Gift of Computers
from Echelon Computers, Inc. to Further Their Efforts of Family Violence Prevention & Education

Crystal Lake, Illinois – April 10, 2007 — P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL, a non-profit organization today announced receiving the gift of 10 computers from John Niziolek II, President of Echelon Computers, Inc. of Crystal Lake.

In addition to Echelon Computers assistance, two other Crystal Lake businesses donated their services for the computers to become operable at P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL.

Marty Walter of Walter Alarm Service donated the wiring and Scott Hughes of Simple Logic donated the connection for all of the computers.

P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL is a domestic violence and sexual assault agency that serves clients from throughout McHenry County and the northeast Illinois area.

“We are extremely grateful for John’s generosity as his gift of these computers and software has allowed for P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL to become more proficient in serving our clients as well as their needs in addition to running the day-to-day operations of the agency,” said Bobbi Allen, Marketing and Development Director for P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL

“With the great assistance of Walter Alarm Service and Simple Logic, we are now able to save an incredible amount of time and we are very thankful for everyone’s assistance and hard work.”

P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL’s mission statement is located within the “P.E.A.C.E.” acronym portion of their name, which stands for:

• Prevent,
• Educate, and
• Advocate, in our
• Community, in order to
• End domestic violence and sexual assault.

In addition to the prevention and educational programs, P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL provides a Hotline that is answered by trained advocates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week where assistance is provided to callers.

The Hotline number is
(815) 455-SAFE (7233).

“P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL continuously strives to help end community violence at its core, which is family violence,” said Cindy Smith, Executive Director of P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL.

Three Crystal Lake businessmen have stepped up to the plate to help Crystal Lake’s

P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL Receives Gift of Computers
from Echelon Computers, Inc. to Further Their Efforts of Family Violence Prevention & Education

Crystal Lake, Illinois – April 10, 2007 — P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL, a non-profit organization today announced receiving the gift of 10 computers from John Niziolek II, President of Echelon Computers, Inc. of Crystal Lake.

In addition to Echelon Computers assistance, two other Crystal Lake businesses donated their services for the computers to become operable at P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL.

Marty Walter of Walter Alarm Service donated the wiring and Scott Hughes of Simple Logic donated the connection for all of the computers.

P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL is a domestic violence and sexual assault agency that serves clients from throughout McHenry County and the northeast Illinois area.

“We are extremely grateful for John’s generosity as his gift of these computers and software has allowed for P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL to become more proficient in serving our clients as well as their needs in addition to running the day-to-day operations of the agency,” said Bobbi Allen, Marketing and Development Director for P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL

“With the great assistance of Walter Alarm Service and Simple Logic, we are now able to save an incredible amount of time and we are very thankful for everyone’s assistance and hard work.”

P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL’s mission statement is located within the “P.E.A.C.E.” acronym portion of their name, which stands for:

• Prevent,
• Educate, and
• Advocate, in our
• Community, in order to
• End domestic violence and sexual assault.

In addition to the prevention and educational programs, P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL provides a Hotline that is answered by trained advocates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week where assistance is provided to callers.

The Hotline number is
(815) 455-SAFE (7233).

“P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL continuously strives to help end community violence at its core, which is family violence,” said Cindy Smith, Executive Director of P.E.A.C.E. 4 ALL.

My son’s school friend and neighbor Mila had her birthday celebration at a location that was not typical for kids.

It wasn’t at Pump It Up, Chuck E. Cheese or any other place you would expect.

And, it wasn’t in Crystal Lake. It was in Palatine.

It was at newly opened Japanese restaurant–Mister Sumo’s–in the shopping center on Route 14 where the road makes it big bend.

It’s next to the Dollar Tree, which is next to CitiCorp on the southeastern end of the mall. At the opposite end of the mall is where Hobby Lobby is located–on the mall’s northwestern end.

A bit hard to find, but worth the effort.

Actually, the restaurant is called

“I’m never had more fun in my life,” Mila’s younger brother Mateo said.

“I never want to leave.”

I’ll bet owner Seung Kim, otherwise known as “Mr. Sumo,” didn’t know he had a children’s attraction.

And, I’ll bet most parents don’t realize that this Japanese restaurant, in the style of Benihana, complete with huge frying surface at every table, would hold their children’s attention so completely.

The chefs do their thing with their spatulas, flipping them first, then an egg that ends up in his hat, they an unbroken egg shell that end up aimed at Mateo.

Even the dishes full of fried rice were flipped before delivery to the young patrons.

And, of course, there were pyrotechnics.

And, the open flames were what brought us from Crystal Lake to Palatine.

Mila’s and Mateo’s grandfather is Crystal Laker Marty Walter, owner of Walter Alarm.

If you own a business that needs an expert with providing fire retardant equipment and alarms, plus dealing with local government officials, Marty is the man to call.

His work for Mister Sumo stimulated the birthday party celebration.

They obviously get along pretty well.

The kids loved the onion rings which turned first into a fire spouting volcano, then into one spewing forth lava.

I like onions about as much as my father liked celery (not at all), which he though my mother put into every meal she prepared.

I have a similar suspicion about my wife. I pick them out of one of our favorite salads, which is really quite good…without the onions.

But these onions tasted good.

I wish I hadn’t given so many of them to my wife before I tasted one.

They didn’t taste like onions at all.

My wife had scallops.

I had swordfish. (Although Marty treated, I noticed that the swordfish was less than $20. Prices ranged up from there.)

My son settled for fried rice, which included the egg that landed on the chef’s hat.

It was just like being a little kid again.

Only, it was the chef cutting up my fish, instead of my mother or father.

After the opening of presents came dessert, pineapples cut so they looked like baskets with the sweet part of the pineapple easy to extract.

Again, cut up.

The staff sang a birthday song. Not, “Happy Birthday to you,” for which royalties would have to be paid. A different one like Rain Forest Cafe.

Then, Mister Sumo entered with his staff banging on a big gong.

It was loud.

It delighted the kids.

Even more delight followed when Mr. Sumo held the gong and let the kids hit it.

Some were gentle.

Some were not.

When it was behind my wife, she was holding her ears.

Too close I guess.

An unexpected, but great place to hold a birthday party.

= = = = =
All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

My son’s school friend and neighbor Mila had her birthday celebration at a location that was not typical for kids.

It wasn’t at Pump It Up, Chuck E. Cheese or any other place you would expect.

And, it wasn’t in Crystal Lake. It was in Palatine.

It was at newly opened Japanese restaurant–Mister Sumo’s–in the shopping center on Route 14 where the road makes it big bend.

It’s next to the Dollar Tree, which is next to CitiCorp on the southeastern end of the mall. At the opposite end of the mall is where Hobby Lobby is located–on the mall’s northwestern end.

A bit hard to find, but worth the effort.

Actually, the restaurant is called

“I’m never had more fun in my life,” Mila’s younger brother Mateo said.

“I never want to leave.”

I’ll bet owner Seung Kim, otherwise known as “Mr. Sumo,” didn’t know he had a children’s attraction.

And, I’ll bet most parents don’t realize that this Japanese restaurant, in the style of Benihana, complete with huge frying surface at every table, would hold their children’s attention so completely.

The chefs do their thing with their spatulas, flipping them first, then an egg that ends up in his hat, they an unbroken egg shell that end up aimed at Mateo.

Even the dishes full of fried rice were flipped before delivery to the young patrons.

And, of course, there were pyrotechnics.

And, the open flames were what brought us from Crystal Lake to Palatine.

Mila’s and Mateo’s grandfather is Crystal Laker Marty Walter, owner of Walter Alarm.

If you own a business that needs an expert with providing fire retardant equipment and alarms, plus dealing with local government officials, Marty is the man to call.

His work for Mister Sumo stimulated the birthday party celebration.

They obviously get along pretty well.

The kids loved the onion rings which turned first into a fire spouting volcano, then into one spewing forth lava.

I like onions about as much as my father liked celery (not at all), which he though my mother put into every meal she prepared.

I have a similar suspicion about my wife. I pick them out of one of our favorite salads, which is really quite good…without the onions.

But these onions tasted good.

I wish I hadn’t given so many of them to my wife before I tasted one.

They didn’t taste like onions at all.

My wife had scallops.

I had swordfish. (Although Marty treated, I noticed that the swordfish was less than $20. Prices ranged up from there.)

My son settled for fried rice, which included the egg that landed on the chef’s hat.

It was just like being a little kid again.

Only, it was the chef cutting up my fish, instead of my mother or father.

After the opening of presents came dessert, pineapples cut so they looked like baskets with the sweet part of the pineapple easy to extract.

Again, cut up.

The staff sang a birthday song. Not, “Happy Birthday to you,” for which royalties would have to be paid. A different one like Rain Forest Cafe.

Then, Mister Sumo entered with his staff banging on a big gong.

It was loud.

It delighted the kids.

Even more delight followed when Mr. Sumo held the gong and let the kids hit it.

Some were gentle.

Some were not.

When it was behind my wife, she was holding her ears.

Too close I guess.

An unexpected, but great place to hold a birthday party.

= = = = =
All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

So, what you do New Year’s Eve?

My family went to the wedding of Mackenzie Walter to Carlos Garcia.

It was held at D’Andrea’s on Route 14 in Crystal Lake at the intersection of Route 31.

It was supposed to start at 6 PM, but the snow was brutal.

The streets were slippery. Even getting into the parking lot was tough.

Judge Charles Weech married the couple. He had ample time to review what he planned to say, which were really excellent.

And Jim and Anthea Hanlin’s granddaughter Cheyenne walking down our row. Unfortunately, I cut off the top of her head, but with eyes like that I knew you’d want to see the picture.

The room had stands of young trees draped in beads. One young woman got her curls caught in them, but I was too close to get a picture. I had the long lens on.

We were among the first to take our seats, but I didn’t have enough foresight to sit where I could get good shots during most of the ceremony.

The exception was the lighting of the unity candle.

Sister of the bride Lindsay and Alfonso Herrera’s youngest, Liam, was sitting across the aisle from us, so I got a picture of the expectation in his face as Mom walked down the aisle. Alfonso had to retreat to the sidelines as Liam figured out Mom was not coming for him.

The bridal procession walked down the aisle pretty fast for my camera, which had a dying battery.

I did a bit better on the recessional, betting a picture of Mack’s grandfather Lowell Terry. You can see what one person called “Narnia” trees in the background.

Mother of the Bride Colleen told me that it was intended to evoke a “Sleeping Beauty” feeling where the princess wakes up in an “Enchanted Forest.”

I didn’t get Mack’s grandmother Joan Terry until after dinner in a shot with Jane Rule and Mary Collins, South Shore Drive neighbors of parents Colleen and Marty Walter.

There were two official photographers. They stayed well past midnight.

While they were taking the officials photographs, Marty and Colleen Walters had D’Andrea’s staff lavishing us with finger food and an open bar, which lasted all night.

Top shelf.

And, yes, I got enough, ending up drinking water.

About nine I figured out that I had to drive home in worse weather than when we arrived.

The bridal procession entered the lavishly decorated main banquet room. (You can click on any image to get a bigger picture.)

They walked past chairs covered with red, accented with lace.

Red roses in perfect bloom alternated from atop high glass vases to lower ones. We were told we could take home the roses, but not the vases.

We have two of the deep red roses in a small Kurt Strobach crystal vase on the windowsill above the sink. (Our wedding present came from Strobach’s Coventry showroom one street east of Canterbury Grade School. He’s in the phone book.)

After all the wedding party entered, there was the cutting of the cake next the dessert table, which our hungry ten-year old had already found to his mother’s dismay. That didn’t stop her from tasting the cannoli he didn’t finish.

He did devour the cookie that looked like a groom’s tux, while ignoring the one the one like a wedding dress.

There was none of the smash mouth cake assault that you see on “Funniest Home Videos.” I thought Carlos was especially gentle.

And, in looking at the pictures I took, Mack’s hair was more lovely than I have seen on any Greek statue. (Come on. Click on the hair and look at its intricate design.)

There were toasts by the Best Man and the Maid of Honor. Hers had me laughing too loudly.

Prayers were given in English and Spanish. Not a lot of my Latin roots came back, but it was moving.

Someone announced that there would be none of that clinking of glasses to elicit a kiss from the newly weds.

People would have to sing a song with the word “love” in it.

Our table, having been through this tradition at the Mary Pat Mercer-Bill Bear and my niece’s weddings were ready.

It was the Monkey’s hit,

“I’m a Believer.”

Mateo sang a great rendition of

“Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”

and Mila sang

“Jesus Loves Me.”

More kisses.

The food was good and too much.

I had no room for the beef after I finished the chicken.

After dinner, the dancing began.

Carlos and Mack.

Looking lovingly at each other.

Another Kiss.

I can’t get over Mack’s hair.

Then, it was time for Mack to dance with her father Marty.

And, Carlos to dance with his mother Rosedith.

Then, dancing by married couples.

The disc jockey had the newer married couples leave the floor until just the longest married were left dancing.

Colleen’s parents, Lowell and Joan Terry, didn’t participate or I’m confident they would have been the longest on the floor.

A night of slow music, rock and roll, YMCA, music I had never heard, but no chicken dance, no hokey pokey followed.

I heard a swing song with more of a beat that was clearly from South of the Border.

It was good, as were those dancing to it.

Mateo got to strut his cross steps in a fast dance with a girl a little older.

He more than held his own.

Girls dancing with girls.

Guys of all ages dancing with their girls.

Some married.

Some not.

Kids dancing.

With 12 PM almost there, the disk jockey called all the kids to the back of the room where they participated in the countdown to midnight.

Then,

ten,

nine,

eight,

seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two,

one.

Happy New Year!

Shouting.

Kissing.

Champagne toasts.

And, cleaning off a couple inches of snow from the car.

You can see a bit of what happened after Midnight here.

A careful drive across town back to Lakewood.

We figure Marty and Colleen will certainly toss a first anniversary party for the kids new New Year’s Eve.

Don’t you think?

= = = = =
Remember. You can enlarge all of the pictures by clicking on them.

So, what you do New Year’s Eve?

My family went to the wedding of Mackenzie Walter to Carlos Garcia.

It was held at D’Andrea’s on Route 14 in Crystal Lake at the intersection of Route 31.

It was supposed to start at 6 PM, but the snow was brutal.

The streets were slippery. Even getting into the parking lot was tough.

Judge Charles Weech married the couple. He had ample time to review what he planned to say, which were really excellent.

And Jim and Anthea Hanlin’s granddaughter Cheyenne walking down our row. Unfortunately, I cut off the top of her head, but with eyes like that I knew you’d want to see the picture.

The room had stands of young trees draped in beads. One young woman got her curls caught in them, but I was too close to get a picture. I had the long lens on.

We were among the first to take our seats, but I didn’t have enough foresight to sit where I could get good shots during most of the ceremony.

The exception was the lighting of the unity candle.

Sister of the bride Lindsay and Alfonso Herrera’s youngest, Liam, was sitting across the aisle from us, so I got a picture of the expectation in his face as Mom walked down the aisle. Alfonso had to retreat to the sidelines as Liam figured out Mom was not coming for him.

The bridal procession walked down the aisle pretty fast for my camera, which had a dying battery.

I did a bit better on the recessional, betting a picture of Mack’s grandfather Lowell Terry. You can see what one person called “Narnia” trees in the background.

Mother of the Bride Colleen told me that it was intended to evoke a “Sleeping Beauty” feeling where the princess wakes up in an “Enchanted Forest.”

I didn’t get Mack’s grandmother Joan Terry until after dinner in a shot with Jane Rule and Mary Collins, South Shore Drive neighbors of parents Colleen and Marty Walter.

There were two official photographers. They stayed well past midnight.

While they were taking the officials photographs, Marty and Colleen Walters had D’Andrea’s staff lavishing us with finger food and an open bar, which lasted all night.

Top shelf.

And, yes, I got enough, ending up drinking water.

About nine I figured out that I had to drive home in worse weather than when we arrived.

The bridal procession entered the lavishly decorated main banquet room. (You can click on any image to get a bigger picture.)

They walked past chairs covered with red, accented with lace.

Red roses in perfect bloom alternated from atop high glass vases to lower ones. We were told we could take home the roses, but not the vases.

We have two of the deep red roses in a small Kurt Strobach crystal vase on the windowsill above the sink. (Our wedding present came from Strobach’s Coventry showroom one street east of Canterbury Grade School. He’s in the phone book.)

After all the wedding party entered, there was the cutting of the cake next the dessert table, which our hungry ten-year old had already found to his mother’s dismay. That didn’t stop her from tasting the cannoli he didn’t finish.

He did devour the cookie that looked like a groom’s tux, while ignoring the one the one like a wedding dress.

There was none of the smash mouth cake assault that you see on “Funniest Home Videos.” I thought Carlos was especially gentle.

And, in looking at the pictures I took, Mack’s hair was more lovely than I have seen on any Greek statue. (Come on. Click on the hair and look at its intricate design.)

There were toasts by the Best Man and the Maid of Honor. Hers had me laughing too loudly.

Prayers were given in English and Spanish. Not a lot of my Latin roots came back, but it was moving.

Someone announced that there would be none of that clinking of glasses to elicit a kiss from the newly weds.

People would have to sing a song with the word “love” in it.

Our table, having been through this tradition at the Mary Pat Mercer-Bill Bear and my niece’s weddings were ready.

It was the Monkey’s hit,

“I’m a Believer.”

Mateo sang a great rendition of

“Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”

and Mila sang

“Jesus Loves Me.”

More kisses.

The food was good and too much.

I had no room for the beef after I finished the chicken.

After dinner, the dancing began.

Carlos and Mack.

Looking lovingly at each other.

Another Kiss.

I can’t get over Mack’s hair.

Then, it was time for Mack to dance with her father Marty.

And, Carlos to dance with his mother Rosedith.

Then, dancing by married couples.

The disc jockey had the newer married couples leave the floor until just the longest married were left dancing.

Colleen’s parents, Lowell and Joan Terry, didn’t participate or I’m confident they would have been the longest on the floor.

A night of slow music, rock and roll, YMCA, music I had never heard, but no chicken dance, no hokey pokey followed.

I heard a swing song with more of a beat that was clearly from South of the Border.

It was good, as were those dancing to it.

Mateo got to strut his cross steps in a fast dance with a girl a little older.

He more than held his own.

Girls dancing with girls.

Guys of all ages dancing with their girls.

Some married.

Some not.

Kids dancing.

With 12 PM almost there, the disk jockey called all the kids to the back of the room where they participated in the countdown to midnight.

Then,

ten,

nine,

eight,

seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two,

one.

Happy New Year!

Shouting.

Kissing.

Champagne toasts.

And, cleaning off a couple inches of snow from the car.

You can see a bit of what happened after Midnight here.

A careful drive across town back to Lakewood.

We figure Marty and Colleen will certainly toss a first anniversary party for the kids new New Year’s Eve.

Don’t you think?

= = = = =
Remember. You can enlarge all of the pictures by clicking on them.