McHenry County Blog

He wasn’t at the front of the parade but the owner of Port Edward, Ed Woloweic, was the Grand Marshall.

The parade took about an hour, truncated because of construction south on Route 31.

Most of the politic entries which I try to document were fairly near the front of the parade.

But, before they arrived, a volunteer for Congressman Peter Roskam, who will, pending a political upset of tremendous proportions, represent Algonquin Township in Congress next session, was sighted passing out small bags. With candy on their minds, a lot of folks took them.

Of course, there were the members of the Algonquin Village Board.

But before the politicians came Police Chief Russ Laine.

And an entry dedicated to the Chicago Cubs.

Founder Favorite Rusty Cherbak was surrounded by a Chicago Cubs wish fulfillment contingent.

There was even a goat.  A billy goat, of course.

Then came the village politicians.

Village President John Schmidt waved.

Village Trustee Bob Smith was accompanied by Buzz Lightyear.

Village Trustee Debbie Sosine was in waving mode.

Trustee Jerrold Glogowski was one of three trustees walking the route handing out candy.

The other two were Jim Steigert and John Spella.  Handing out candy is the Algonquin Parade is easy on Route 31 because the spectators are all on the south side of the street.

The village clerk came dresses as the clown Lazy Bonz.

The first partisan politician was District 1 Republican McHenry County Board member Bob Bless.

District 1 Republican McHenry County Board members Marc Munaretto and Anna Miller were driving in a Mercedes convertible by Algonquin Township Road Commissioner Bob Miller.

I asked Munaretto, who is not running for re-election to the County Board, whether he was running for re-election for Algonquin Township Clerk.

“You’ll have to wait and see,” he replied.

That was the same answer he gave last year before for filing deadline for County Board.

There are no Democrats in District 1, but there is one in District 5–Paula Yensen.

Next came Jean and McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi.

 McHenry County Auditor Pam Palmer followed Bianchi.

Both Bianchi and McHenry County Auditor Palmer are unopposed this fall.

Kane County politicians followed the McHenry County ones.

There were two County Board members, Hollie Lindgren and Maggie Auger.

There are always pictures that could have been.  The one below was going to be of the current and future Kane County Auditors, incumbent Bill Keck and candidate Terry Hunt.

Fortunately, I got a shot of Keck and Hunt before the parade.

“Take my picture. Take my picture,” the two members of the Eagles, a youth football team shouted as they mugged for my camera.

How could I resist?

Interrupting the parade was the girder from the World Trade Center brought by the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District.

On the sides of the fire engines you can see the above sticker.

I was seated on the porch of a closed building when I way something political after a truck for the Red Run.  (The 5K is August 11th starting at Presidential Park in Algonquin.)

It was the McHenry County Republican Party entry…right at the end of the parade.

There was a banner for GOP State Rep candidate David McSweeney up front.

Right behind were people carrying Congressman Peter Roskam signs.

Then, Dave McSweeney passed me quickly.  I got his attention and he turned around so I could get the photo above.

Next came the McHenry County Republican float.

I just kept snapping my shutter, getting County Board member Nick Provenzano and County Chairman & State Rep. Mike Tryon.

Next came supporters of State Senator Dan Duffy, whose district mirrors that of David McSweeney on the eastern edges of McHenry and Kane Counties.

Next I found McHenry County Board member Robert Nowak.

And with the passing of the next entry, cheerleaders from CEE Snowball Blast Grand Champion, the Algonquin Founders Day Parade was over.

Afterward, however, the young man who had been assiduously gathering candy during the parade put on a Young Republican sticker and agreed to let me take his photograph.

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A special note for you Sheriff’s Department watchers. The McHenry County Sheriff’s Department had no entry in the parade. Neither Sheriff Keith Nygren nor his Undersheriff Andrew Zinke was anywhere to be seen.

County political party committees held organization meetings all over Illinois Wednesday night.

At the McHenry County Republican Party Central Committee meeting, State Rep. Mike Tryon was re-elected Chairman.

Nunda Township’s Mark Daniel was selected as Vice Chairman. He will replace Kathy Kuchta of McHenry Township.

The Secretary and Treasurer will remain the same, Glenda Miller and Fred Wickham.

In other action, the Precinct Committeemen voted to put Leslie Schermerhorn on the ballot for Regional Superintendent of Education.

She was appointed to the post on Tuesday night by the McHenry County Board.

After the meeting the new and old Precinct Committeemen got to know each other.

The Daily Herald actually sent a reporter.

Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay brought her campaign for the Illinois State Senate to Lakewood’s Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria Thursday night.

Nothing like free eats to bring out a crowd.  And Lou Manati’s pizza.  What a treat!

The event featured high-profile politicians like State Rep. Mike Tryon. Tryon would be one of the State Representatives in the 33rd State Senate District.

McConnaughay outlined her accomplishments during her seven years in office.  They included achieving a better bond rating from the two major agencies.

Lots of talk about politics, of course.

People looking for yard sign sites.

Others discussing court proceedings and Judge Gordon Graham’s order to pay a couple hundred more thousand dollars to the Special Prosecutors Henry Tonigan and Thomas McQueen and (their expensive investigators at Quest) who had no case against State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi.

At the end of event, campaign assistant Becky Cress was handing out McConnaughay tee shirts.

“All politics is local,”

said Democratic Party House Speaker Tip O’Neill.

Too many Tea Party people haven’t figured that out.

You can tell by the signs at the early demonstrations.  Most were aimed at President Obama and Obamacare.

True, elements were deeply involved in the victory of Joe Walsh over incumbent Melissa Bean.

But, for 2010, I can identify only three new McHenry County Republican Precinct Committeeman candidates who were at a demonstration:

• Diane Evertsen of Hartland 1, who also ran for the McHenry County Board and won
• Shawn Green of Coral 3, then-President of the Huntley Park Board, now running for the County Board
• Rita Heuel of Algonquin 13 in Crystal Lake’s Coventry subdivision

It’s now 2012.

Both Evertsen and Heuel are running for re-election as Precinct Committeeman, while Green is not.

But, there is a new crop.

Not large, but enthusiastic.

They cover all four corners of the county.

In the northwest corner is 19-year old [not 23, as originally posted] McHenry County College student Melissa Denker. She is running in Dunham Township, which is the southern part of Harvard and points south.

In the northeast section there are two candidates, also women:

• Mary B. Joestgen in Richmond 4
• Lori Lee White in Burton 3, active in the Antioch Tea Party. White provided most of the content of this weekend’s article,

Spring Grove Tea Party Members Rally for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

In southeastern Algonquin Township Heuel has been joined by Andrew Gasser in Algonquin 4, a Fox River Grove precinct south of the tracks.

Gasser is a coalition coordinator within the tea party movement and also leads the TEA Party in Space.

During the debt ceiling debate, he worked in DC to spread the Tea Party message of fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free markets.  Gasser reaches out to state and local Tea Party leaders to ensure message clarity to maximize impact in Washington DC. He most recently worked the SOPA and PIPA issue informing leaders and members of the tea party who to contact in Washington, besides their local Congressman, which lead to SOPA and PIPA being dropped.  In McHenry County, he works closely with the Algonquin Tea Party and Crystal Lake Tea Party.

Although not running for GOP Precinct Committeeman, Nunda Township’s Mary Alger, head of the Crystal Lake Tea Party, is running for the McHenry County Board in District 3.

Of course, there are others who identify with the Tea Party folks, but pre-date the movement.

If I missed anyone activated by the TEA Party movement, please tell us in the comment section.