Musick: Corey Wootton plugs hole in injured defense
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AY, OCTOBER 9, 2013
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Mental Health Board interviewing finalists woman Carrie Smith said. The committee will deliberate Friday and recommend “two or three” finalists to proceed for second interviews before the entire board. If all goes according to plan – this is the board’s second attempt to hire a director after the first fell through – a decision could come late next month. “I think the great hope is
New executive director could be announced in November terview finalists to take over as executive director. The board’s search committee will interview four first-round finalists in closeddoor meetings Wednesday and Thursday, committee Chair-
By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – After a year without a leader, the McHenry County Mental Health Board will begin to in-
that by the Nov. 26 meeting of the Mental Health Board, we would have an announcement to make,” said Smith, who is also the board’s vice president. “However, there are a lot of steps between now and then, but that’s the goal.” The Mental Health Board has been without a permanent administrative leader since November, when former Executive Director Sandy Lewis
left to accept a job with Virginia Commonwealth University. Deputy Director Todd Schroll has served as interim director since then. Lewis’ departure came months before an ongoing shakeup of the Mental Health Board – Smith is one of six new members who have been seated this year. Critics over the years allege the Mental Health Board has
Algonquin board hears design plans
Agritourism attractions on the rise in McHenry County By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO
By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com
Places to go:
Once October starts, Vernon Stade can anticipate the many families waiting for hayrides to go pumpkin picking or the numerous kids wanting to use the Happy Harvester, a John Deere combine turned slide. Like clockwork, thousands usually descend on his Stade’s Farm and Market, near Johnsburg, during a typical October weekend to take advantage of comfortably cool weather and the changing fall scenery. They come to pick berries, get lost in a corn maze, see pumpkins hurl out of a cannon, hang out with the rabbits and goats at the petting zoo or experience the more than two-dozen “farmtractions” that populate the 600-acre farm owned by Stade. “It’s unique entertainment,” Stade said. “You can’t get this kind of thing anywhere else. It’s everything rural, healthy and wholesome. Where else are you going to find a corn maze or a combine with a slide through it?” The fall entertainment didn’t exist on the farm until the late 1990s, when Sta-
There are 32 farms, orchards and markets in McHenry County that offer activities and produce for tourists. Here are a few: n Stade’s Farm and Market n All Seasons Orchard n Royal Oak Farms n Richardson Adventure Farm The McHenry County Convention and Visitors Bureau has a complete contact list for all 32 sites. Visit www.visitmchenrycounty.com or contact the bureau at 815-893 6280 for information. de made the decision to use his farm for agritourism, a business idea that is growing among many rural areas throughout Illinois. Farms that use agritourism are offering attractions, homegrown produce and agricultural services to the public. In McHenry County, 32 farms, orchards and markets in rural areas such as Harvard, Marengo and Woodstock gear their business toward family-oriented agritourism. All have seen a consistent increase in visitors each year, including urban
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Vinny Pacetti, 5, of West Dundee throws an apple Sept. 23 at All Seasons Orchard in Woodstock. The orchard offers 11 varieties of apples and two varieties of asian pears. Along with the orchard, visitors come from all around to see the pumpkin patch, the petting zoo, the corn maze, apple and pumpkin cannons as well as other activities to keep customers busy.
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PROSECUTION RESTS IN SEX ABUSE CASE Algonquin man Derrick I. Hill, 40, is accused of sexual contact with a female relative, who was 11 years old at the time, over a period of several years. He was arrested in April 2011, charged with multiple sex crimes, the most serious being predatory criminal sexual assault of a child. For more, see page B1.
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
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CRYSTAL LAKE: Wheel Werks owner Bob Olsen plans philanthropic bike trip across Peru this year. Local, B1
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ALGONQUIN – Two engineering and design firms working together with hopes of being awarded the design contract for the planned improvements to Randall Road introduced themselves Tuesday to Algonquin Village Board members. Representatives from Transystems and Bollinger Lach & Association gave a presentation on the Randall Road improvements, which include the possibility of a continuous flow intersection at Randall and Algonquin roads. The engineering firms are in negotiations with the county to design the project. A similar presentation is scheduled for Lake in the Hills Village Board members later this week. Todd Bright, vice president of Transystems, said the firms are ready to get started and design the improvements along Randall Road. “We drive it every day,” Bright said. If awarded the contract, the firms would be charged with designing either a traditional intersection or a continuous flow intersection at Randall and Algonquin roads. Bright said the firms would be able to design either type of intersection.
To see more photos from All Seasons Orchard, visit NWHerald.com.
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Firms discuss Randall project
Families find fun at farms sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com
become a top-heavy bureaucracy that spends millions on overhead that should instead go directly to client agencies that work with the mentally ill and disabled. After the 2012 election, an overhaul of the McHenry County Board committee structure put a reform-minded majority on its Public Health and Human
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