Wine Tasting for the Round Lake Area Park District Foundation

"A Taste of the Grape" wine tasting fundraiser is going to be held on Saturday, March 5 from 6:30-9:00 pm at the Rolek Community Center. Tickets are $30 per person and are on sale at the Registration desk at the Rolek Community Center, 814 Hart Rd. Round Lake, and the Sports Center 2005 Municipal Way, Round Lake Beach. This event is one of a series of fundraisers to raise money to renovate the Hart's Woods playground. Bring your friends. For more information go here.

The format is simple, everyone gets a glass and can move around 4-5 tables sampling, and deciding on which wines they want to order for home use.

Separated at Birth?

My 18 year old daughter and 23 year old nephew built this for me.

County Snow Alert

We remain under a Winter Storm Warning through this evening. According to information from the National Weather Service, this storm has been slower to develop than the models had originally predicted. Unfortunately, this delay in development may actually increase the amount of snow that falls over Lake County. All the models are now in very close agreement, and we should expect heavy snow throughout the remainder of today. The heaviest snow is expected to fall beginning around 10:00, with rates in excess of 3” of snow per hour possible. Heavy snow is expected to continue through the evening commute, then taper off by midnight.

The NWS has increased anticipated snowfall amounts for Lake County from their forecast yesterday of 8-10” to 10-12”, with the possibility of higher amounts locally where heavier snow bands occur. Gusty northwest winds will create blowing and drifting snow later today, and the high snowfall rates will cause challenges for snow removal efforts.

Travel will become increasingly difficult later today. Be prepared for extended drive times, and consider postponing unnecessary trips.

120 Project Status Update

I just wanted to point out to everyone that the website has been updated. Please go to www.120now.com to review the changes. Click on the tab entitled “Feasibility Study” and review the changes there. On the 13th at 7pm at the Police and Public Works facility is the first of what will likely be one many meeting as this process unfolds.

Enjoy Election Coverage

Food Bank Information

A local resident Jennifer Puzzo asked me a great question, about the location of food banks in the area. As many of you know I have been active with the Northern Illinois Food Bank. The Avon Food Pantry collects donations of non-perishable food items year-round. Please help make the upcoming holidays a little bit nicer for Avon Township families by dropping off your donations to the Village Hall or directly to Avon Township at 433 E. Washington Street (847-546-1446).

Here is a list of food banks in Northern Illinois for your benefit.

COMMENTARY--National Do Not Call Registry

As many of you know I am am running for state senator, and as such I have a campaign headquarters. The headquarters has a phone which we did not immediately place on the National Do Not Call List. I also misplaced the pin number for the voice mail and it took a few days for me to access the voice mail. So what do these two things have in common?

Well when I finally located the pin number and logged on I had in the space of less then 10 days we had 74 voice mail messages, which of course got me excited until after listening to them for 35 minutes and discovering that 62 of them were junk calls! Unbelievable!

I get no junk phone at the house and have been on the on the do not call list since it came out. Clearly one government program that works!

Snow Reminder

NOTE: I have posted this before but I have been getting a spate of emails about the subject so I decided to repost it.

I have gotten a ton of emails and comments on neighbors not cleaning the sidewalks off after a snow storm. So I decided to go to the village code and find exactly what it says. However the Valley Lake HOA already had an excellent flier and I asked John Gutknecht to send it to me.

Frequently Asked Questions and Reminders

Question: Who’s supposed to clear the sidewalks?
Answer: It is the responsibility of each property owner to remove the snow from ALL PUBLIC SIDEWALKS adjacent to their property.

Question: But can’t I be held liable if someone falls on a sidewalk that I cleared?
Answer: Individuals who shovel snow or ice from sidewalks are NOT liable for personal injuries allegedly caused by the snowy or icy condition of the sidewalk resulting from their shoveling unless their conduct is willful or wanton. (Willful or wanton conduct means with an actual intent to cause an injury or with a conscious disregard for the safety of others. Illinois Compiled Statutes, Chapter 745, Section 75/2.

The Village Code even weighs in on the subject as well.

12.04.070 Snow on Sidewalks.
The person occupying the ground floor of any building, the user of any lot without a structure thereon, and the owner of any vacant building or other premises shall remove the snow and ice accumulating on the abutting sidewalks within twenty-four (24) hours after any snowfall has ceased. If snow or ice cannot be removed the surface shall be sanded or otherwise treated to lessen the hazard for pedestrians until the climate permits removal.

If you see an address in which the owner is not removing the snow, please contact the Round Lake Police Dept. at 847-546-8112 and file a complaint. Our first priority however will always be the roads during a snow event.

Monday's Post-- Mystery Man Identified

Its longtime Round Lake resident and WRLR Radio President Bish Krywko!

Shape Lake County’s Future at Community Forum

In a democracy, citizens are owners of their government and with ownership comes influence. Citizens can influence the goals and strategies that drive how and where the County will focus its resources by sharing their thoughts and views at one of five Lake County Community Forums.

Lake County will use the input to identify the most critical challenges facing our region, determine the County’s role in addressing those issues, and develop a long-term plan. The County’s goal is to listen and deliberate issues among residents with diverse interests, backgrounds and perspectives, so we can develop results that matter to citizens.

6 – 7 p.m. Open House
Learn about County services and programs from health and transportation to where to go for help and property information; Get free stuff; Be a guest on LCTV and more!

7 p.m. Community Forum
Let your voice be heard! Your input will help shape the future direction of Lake County and the region.

CENTRAL LAKE COUNTY COMMUNITY FORUM	Monday, March 10	Division of Transportation	600 W. Winchester Road Libertyville
SOUTHEAST LAKE COUNTY COMMUNITY FORUM	Tuesday, March 18	Highland Park Country Club	1201 Park Avenue West Highland Park
NORTHWEST LAKE COUNTY COMMUNITY FORUM	Wednesday, March 19	Lake Villa Public Library	1001 E. Grand Ave. Lindenhurst
SOUTHWEST LAKE COUNTY COMMUNITY FORUM	Monday, March 31	Ela Area Public Library	275 Mohawk Trail Lake Zurich
NORTHEAST LAKE COUNTY COMMUNITY FORUM	Tuesday, April 1	Warren Newport Public Library	224 N. O’Plaine Rd. Gurnee

For more information, contact Lake County Communications at 847-377-2550 or visit www.co.lake.il.us.

Who is this Round Lake Mystery Man?

If you can identify this beloved Round Lake icon, I will come up with some suitable gift for you, guesses in the comment section of the blog.

This is a good idea for our centennial, so if anyone has some pictures of things they would like to show or ask questions about send them here and we can put them on the blog on the weekends, since I have been kind of lax recently on the weekend posts!

Mikes

I can't tell you how happy I am that Mike's Restaurant is here in the Village! I love having a place to have excellent steaks on a Friday night. Garnished with mushrooms and onions (I am back on the Atkins diet again). Before I went on the diet the Chicken Picata was marvelous as well as the seafood.

Chef Mike has worked in quite a few top places in the City and in Las Vegas as well, I would write them here but I forgot them in my haste to eat the steak he put in front of me!

All of you know that I don't push places, but this is over on the west side of Valley Lakes in the strip mall on Wilson Road. Mike’s Grill & Catering-- 399 North Wilson, Round Lake, Il. 60073

Save the Date-- Frosty 5K

On the 24th of February (in one month) there will the annual Frosty Footrace which is put on by the Round Lake Park District and starts from the Sports Center which is off of Hook Drive in Round Lake Beach. Check in starts at 10am and the race is at 11am Registration is $20 dollars before the race and $25 the day of the race. You get a t-shirt and a light lunch after the race will be provided! You can register here! That's me in the picture before last fall's race with Trustee Michael Blum, my guess is neither of us will be dressed like this in a month!

Round Lake Cententenial Kick Off with an Ice Festival

February 23, 2008 - Ice House Festival
1pm - 4pm games for children of all ages
1:30 to 3:30 ice sculptor demonstration
2:30 Marcia Gutierrez will be presenting of the history of Round Lake in story format

The first 100 attendees will receive a special Centennial surprise, Hot chocolate and cookies will be offered throughout the event. The event will take place just south of the Village Hall with parking available in the Metra parking lot.

March 15th - Round Lake Area Park District Easter Egg Hunt
The Village will be awarding a $100 savings bond to one person in each age group

September 6th - Founder’s Day Ball
6pm to midnight at Maravela’s in Fox Lake Tickets will be available for purchase prior to the event

November
A food drive will be held throughout the month to benefit local food pantries

Comcast Newsmakers Interview on the Internet

A couple of months ago I appeared on Comcast Newsmakers and wrote about it here and here. I promised to have the video on when I got it converted and online and here it is! Not everyone has cable, such as myself, so I was able to get a digital version for us!



They say the camera adds a few pounds, how many cameras were pointed at me!