McHenry County Blog

It won’t be on watershed of Crystal Lake watershed at McHenry County College.

But it will be just up the road across Route 12, north of Centegra’s Woodstock hospital.

It will include a minor baseball stadium.

But, it will not it will not cost county taxpayers any money.

And, it won’t be just for baseball. Being promoted are lacrosse, soccer, football, concerts, trade shows, antique shows, car shows and festivals.

And the same guys who fleeced McHenry County College taxpayers are apparently among the driving forces behind the proposal.

Mark Houser and Pete Heitman building a sports facility without a public subsidy.

The 250-acre site will preserve 53 acres of wetlands and 22 acres of oak savannah, seen to the right of the stadium. Click to enlarge.

The area is also being held out as a possible new home for the McHenry County Fair. More specifically, most of the land between the railroad track, Lily Pond Road, where I lived for a while, and Route 14.

The site is also being promoted as a place for not-for-profits and service agencies to locate.

Victor Narusis has been the glue that has put this idea together for the McHenry County Community Foundation. When he told me at the Pro-Life Pig Roast at the end of June that he had several million dollars committed and that there would be no tax dollars involved, I wished him luck.

“We are proud to present this project with no request for public funding,” Narusis said (with my piecing together parts of two sentences from the press release.)

He said the site selected “rose to the top of the list” because it is “located in the central part of the county and along a regional traffic corridor” providing “convenient access for all county residents.”

The sports stadium will sit 6,500 or 10,000 with lawn seating.

The land is being donated and graded by Rick Zirk of Woodstock’s Merryman Enterprises. After site preparation, the remaining land will be made available to the Foundation and the McHenry County Fair Board.

“This approach supports smart land use, economic resource planning, wise budget practices and would provide numerous resources with the many benefits of tourism,” McHenry County Community Foundation Board Chairman Mark Ehlert.

You can read the MCCF press release here.

It won’t be on watershed of Crystal Lake watershed at McHenry County College.

But it will be just up the road across Route 12, north of Centegra’s Woodstock hospital.

It will include a minor baseball stadium.

But, it will not it will not cost county taxpayers any money.

And, it won’t be just for baseball. Being promoted are lacrosse, soccer, football, concerts, trade shows, antique shows, car shows and festivals.

And the same guys who fleeced McHenry County College taxpayers are apparently among the driving forces behind the proposal.

Mark Houser and Pete Heitman building a sports facility without a public subsidy.

The 250-acre site will preserve 53 acres of wetlands and 22 acres of oak savannah, seen to the right of the stadium. Click to enlarge.

The area is also being held out as a possible new home for the McHenry County Fair. More specifically, most of the land between the railroad track, Lily Pond Road, where I lived for a while, and Route 14.

The site is also being promoted as a place for not-for-profits and service agencies to locate.

Victor Narusis has been the glue that has put this idea together for the McHenry County Community Foundation. When he told me at the Pro-Life Pig Roast at the end of June that he had several million dollars committed and that there would be no tax dollars involved, I wished him luck.

“We are proud to present this project with no request for public funding,” Narusis said (with my piecing together parts of two sentences from the press release.)

He said the site selected “rose to the top of the list” because it is “located in the central part of the county and along a regional traffic corridor” providing “convenient access for all county residents.”

The sports stadium will sit 6,500 or 10,000 with lawn seating.

The land is being donated and graded by Rick Zirk of Woodstock’s Merryman Enterprises. After site preparation, the remaining land will be made available to the Foundation and the McHenry County Fair Board.

“This approach supports smart land use, economic resource planning, wise budget practices and would provide numerous resources with the many benefits of tourism,” McHenry County Community Foundation Board Chairman Mark Ehlert.

You can read the MCCF press release here.

We haven’t gotten a new (to us) car for a long time.

Yesterday the Pauly Toyota-submitted title for my wife’s car arrived.

Inside were four solicitations for automobile donations.

I have written about John Blanchard’s NASA Education’s insert previously. (In this article, you can read the text of the insert, if you click on the image to enlarge it.) It’s changed a bit, now noting that the McHenry County Community Foundation has provided a grant to transport and repair the vehicles, as has the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.

Its competition comes from The Leukemia Research Foundation, Rawhide Boys Ranch for at risk teens, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois.

We haven’t gotten a new (to us) car for a long time.

Yesterday the Pauly Toyota-submitted title for my wife’s car arrived.

Inside were four solicitations for automobile donations.

I have written about John Blanchard’s NASA Education’s insert previously. (In this article, you can read the text of the insert, if you click on the image to enlarge it.) It’s changed a bit, now noting that the McHenry County Community Foundation has provided a grant to transport and repair the vehicles, as has the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.

Its competition comes from The Leukemia Research Foundation, Rawhide Boys Ranch for at risk teens, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois.

Long-time columnist for the Northwest Herald and predecessor papers Don Peasley revealed a bit over a week ago that

“The fair board is a participant in developing a multi-purpose events facility in cooperation with a proposed minor league baseball stadium under leadership of the McHenry County Community Foundation.

“Foundation staff members are evaluating 200-acre sites in the general area of McHenry County College or perhaps south of Woodstock.”

Just thought you might be interested.

Perhaps that is what McHenry County College Board members Scott Summers and George Lowe were pointing to on this map, the night the board decided to hide behind plastic curtains. And illegally kick members of the public out. You know, the one MCC won’t tell how much money was paid to lawyers when McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi filed suit charging the college with violating the Open Meetings Act.

A better view of the map can be seen below. Ironically, in both photos board member George Lowe’s head can be seen.

Long-time columnist for the Northwest Herald and predecessor papers Don Peasley revealed a bit over a week ago that

“The fair board is a participant in developing a multi-purpose events facility in cooperation with a proposed minor league baseball stadium under leadership of the McHenry County Community Foundation.

“Foundation staff members are evaluating 200-acre sites in the general area of McHenry County College or perhaps south of Woodstock.”

Just thought you might be interested.

Perhaps that is what McHenry County College Board members Scott Summers and George Lowe were pointing to on this map, the night the board decided to hide behind plastic curtains. And illegally kick members of the public out. You know, the one MCC won’t tell how much money was paid to lawyers when McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi filed suit charging the college with violating the Open Meetings Act.

A better view of the map can be seen below. Ironically, in both photos board member George Lowe’s head can be seen.

A press release has arrived about the McHenry County Community Foundation’s having awarded $7,500 to NASA Education’s auto mechanic’s training program. It follows:

“McHenry County Community Foundation
Awards $7,500 Grant to NASA Education”

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL – McHenry County Community Foundation (MCCF) has awarded a $7,500 grant to National Association of Systems Administrators Education Corporation (NASA Education), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Crystal Lake, to support Project Fresh Start, a community reintegration program for U.S. veterans who are displaced, disabled, homeless or otherwise in transition.

NASA Education was recognized and the grant money presented at MCCF’s 2008 Grant Gala Celebration, held on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at Turnberry Country Club, in Village of Lakewood, Illinois.

NASA Education was one of twenty recipients receiving grant money from the foundation, out of forty-six applications that were submitted.

The grant will be used to expand NASA Educations auto mechanic’s training center, expenditures associated with the repair of vehicles donated to the nonprofit organization and related expenses such as gasoline and maintenance of the donated vehicles, insurance, fees for titles and license plates, and drivers’ license application/renewal fees for Project Fresh Start participants.

Donated vehicles are solicited from the public and are repaired for the use of participants who have completed their training programs at NASA Education and have been placed in jobs. We will pick up the donated vehicles and we never resell them.

The McHenry County Community Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization created to give concerned citizens an innovative way to use their charitable dollars for the good of McHenry County. As their motto states; We’re connecting People Who care with Causes That Matter”.

“We are grateful to the McHenry County Community Foundation for this financial support,” said John Blanchard, executive director of NASA Education. “Transportation is one of the leading challenges for the homeless veterans we serve. With the foundation’s help, we will be able to address this challenge in a significant way to get our nation’s heroes back to work at competitive wage jobs.”

For information about NASA Education or how to donate a vehicle for Project Fresh Start, please phone 866-338-4968 (866-EDU-4YOU), send an email to amy_johnson@nasaeducation.org or visit our website at www.nasaeducation.org.

= = = = =
Jennifer Streit, Vice Chair of the McHenry County Community Foundation, hands a $7,000 check to NASA Education’s Amy Johnson. The head shot is of John Blanchard.

A press release has arrived about the McHenry County Community Foundation’s having awarded $7,500 to NASA Education’s auto mechanic’s training program. It follows:

“McHenry County Community Foundation
Awards $7,500 Grant to NASA Education”

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL – McHenry County Community Foundation (MCCF) has awarded a $7,500 grant to National Association of Systems Administrators Education Corporation (NASA Education), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Crystal Lake, to support Project Fresh Start, a community reintegration program for U.S. veterans who are displaced, disabled, homeless or otherwise in transition.

NASA Education was recognized and the grant money presented at MCCF’s 2008 Grant Gala Celebration, held on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at Turnberry Country Club, in Village of Lakewood, Illinois.

NASA Education was one of twenty recipients receiving grant money from the foundation, out of forty-six applications that were submitted.

The grant will be used to expand NASA Educations auto mechanic’s training center, expenditures associated with the repair of vehicles donated to the nonprofit organization and related expenses such as gasoline and maintenance of the donated vehicles, insurance, fees for titles and license plates, and drivers’ license application/renewal fees for Project Fresh Start participants.

Donated vehicles are solicited from the public and are repaired for the use of participants who have completed their training programs at NASA Education and have been placed in jobs. We will pick up the donated vehicles and we never resell them.

The McHenry County Community Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization created to give concerned citizens an innovative way to use their charitable dollars for the good of McHenry County. As their motto states; We’re connecting People Who care with Causes That Matter”.

“We are grateful to the McHenry County Community Foundation for this financial support,” said John Blanchard, executive director of NASA Education. “Transportation is one of the leading challenges for the homeless veterans we serve. With the foundation’s help, we will be able to address this challenge in a significant way to get our nation’s heroes back to work at competitive wage jobs.”

For information about NASA Education or how to donate a vehicle for Project Fresh Start, please phone 866-338-4968 (866-EDU-4YOU), send an email to amy_johnson@nasaeducation.org or visit our website at www.nasaeducation.org.

= = = = =
Jennifer Streit, Vice Chair of the McHenry County Community Foundation, hands a $7,000 check to NASA Education’s Amy Johnson. The head shot is of John Blanchard.

McCormick Place used to be the preeminent convention venue in the United States.

And, even before, I remember my father’s attending conventions in Chicago.

We lived in Easton, Maryland, during the 1940’s into the early 1950’s before we moved to Salt Lake City. I remember my mother, sister Janet and I seeing Dad off at the Easton Airport. He was flying out in what we would now consider a two engine propeller-driven puddle hopper, but it looked like a big plane to me. Piedmont Airlines, I think.

McCormick Place was built, burned down, was re-built, expanded and expanded again.

At some point those cagey folks in Los Vegas and Orlando figured out that people didn’t go to conventions just for the convention. It could be a taxpayer subsidized vacation.

Now, the chickens have come home to roost.

The McHenry County Community Foundation, as recent week’s readers will remember, is pushing for a multi-facility convention center – baseball stadium – county fair grounds – children’s museum – fire fighting museum – not-for-profit office building.

And McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler has promised no tax dollar will be spent.

Showing how hard that goal is to accomplish is a Wednesday Chicago Tribune article entitled,

McCormick Place used to be the preeminent convention venue in the United States.

And, even before, I remember my father’s attending conventions in Chicago.

We lived in Easton, Maryland, during the 1940’s into the early 1950’s before we moved to Salt Lake City. I remember my mother, sister Janet and I seeing Dad off at the Easton Airport. He was flying out in what we would now consider a two engine propeller-driven puddle hopper, but it looked like a big plane to me. Piedmont Airlines, I think.

McCormick Place was built, burned down, was re-built, expanded and expanded again.

At some point those cagey folks in Los Vegas and Orlando figured out that people didn’t go to conventions just for the convention. It could be a taxpayer subsidized vacation.

Now, the chickens have come home to roost.

The McHenry County Community Foundation, as recent week’s readers will remember, is pushing for a multi-facility convention center – baseball stadium – county fair grounds – children’s museum – fire fighting museum – not-for-profit office building.

And McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler has promised no tax dollar will be spent.

Showing how hard that goal is to accomplish is a Wednesday Chicago Tribune article entitled,