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Thursday, December 19, 2013 • 3
Ladd office closure The Ladd Village Clerk’s office will be closed Dec. 24 and 25 for the Christmas holiday. Trash will be picked up on Dec. 28.
‘The Naughty List’ Contest winner Mary Lou Sturtewagen of Sheffield displays the basket full of goodies she won for having her name picked out of the people who submitted recipes for the Bureau County Republican’s “A Homemade Holiday” contest. BCR photo/Lyle Ganther
Mabry: Snow time means clear sidewalk time By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — Downtown merchants and property owners in Princeton are asked to remember to clear their sidewalks after snowfalls. At Monday’s meeting of the Princeton City Council, Commissioner Ray Mabry commended city crews for their cleaning of streets during the recent snowfalls and also commended a school crosswalk guard for his work in clearing the sidewalk in his area. However, by late Monday afternoon, there were still some sidewalks which had not been cleared in front of businesses or vacant buildings on Main Street, specifically 13 places on South Main Street and five on North Main Street, Mabry said. It’s important for merchants and building owners to have their sidewalks cleared after snowfalls, Mabry said. To help resolve that issue,
he talked with Princeton High School administrator Jesse Brandt about the possibility of PHS students being able to use the sidewalk clearing for some of the students’ required community service hours, Mabry said. Brandt was agreeable to this outreach for service hours and merchants or property owners who can’t get their sidewalks cleared could contact the high school to coordinate their sidewalk clearing, Mabry said. “Winter has started early for us and we have to get this snow removal under control. It’s not fair to the merchants that do the snow removal, and others don’t,” Mabry said. In other business, the council had first readings of five refinancing bond series ordinances, which are projected to save the city in the range of $320,000 in interest during the life of the bonds. The bonds deal with various infrastructure improvement projects, the
Princeton Public Library bonds and the wastewater treatment plant. The council is expected to approve the bonds in January. In action items, the city council approved a low bid of $39,811 from Bullington-Isaacson to do some exterior work at city hall, including trim base work, gutter and downspout work. The bid was one of two bids received for the project. Commissioner Bob Warren reported the city issued three residential building permits in November, at a value of $5,376, as well as three commercial building permits, at a value of $24,099. So far this year, the city has issued a total of 74 building permits, at a total value of $5,044,898. In comparison, the city issued a total of 72 building permits in 2012, at a value of $4,614,097. In the 2011 year, the city issued 98 building permits at a value of $4,159,211. Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.
“The Naughty List,” by Festival 56’s own Laura Brigham, is the fourth show in Festival 56’s fall season. This show also veers in a different direction than the other shows of this season because it is aimed specifically toward younger children. With a 4 p.m. starting time and only running about 40 minutes, it is ideal for the attention span of a younger audience. The show had a very “Whoville” feel to it, with set pieces based on scenes from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” This helped provide some familiarity for the younger audience which in turn fostered a willingness to participate within the children. Also, director Matthew C. Scott had the actors use almost cartoonstyle reactions and overthe-top acting that fit the intention of the show very well. The play itself follows the story of four elves, Titterbell (Tayloir Pace), Setta (Candice Dickinson), Wobble (Brendan Macera) and Sparkle (Kim McClay) as they prepare for the Christmas Spectacular at the North Pole. Titterbell, who is in
charge of running auditions, is trying to find the best elves to compliment the Sparkle, the diva of the show. When Setta (short for Poinsettia) turns out to be a very good dancer and singer, Sparkle becomes jealous. Concerned that she may not be the best elf anymore, she becomes rather mean towards both Titterbell and Setta. In turn, Sparkle becomes the first elf ever to find herself on Santa’s infamous Naughty List. When Wobble, an old friend of Sparkle’s, is able to talk to her and help her to see how she has been treating the other elves. She returns to the show with a new attitude and is able to become friends with both Titterbell and Setta in time to put on a fantastic Christmas Spectacular staring all four of the elves. The show, while very
different from the other three shows this fall season, is a lot of fun. With a more visible level of energy than some of the other shows, we, the audience, are wrapped in and cannot help but participate. While the show features the four elves, we too are part of the show asked to clap along, answer questions, and even help let Sparkle know that she is on the Naughty List. This type of audience participation, although sometimes a little “scary” is a great way to get younger audiences involved in the show, and even interested in theater. “The Naughty List” still runs at 4 p.m. today, Thursday, and Friday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday and runs about 40 minutes with a small session after the show run by the cast talking to the children about Christmas and the holiday season. It was a fun show, and I highly recommend it, especially for younger children. Aaron Kaufmann, of Tiskilwa, has a bachelor’s in Music Education with a minor in theater. He can be reached at aaron.k.kaufmann@ gmail.com.
The Closet announces holiday closure PRINCETON — The Closet will take its annual Christmas break from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2, 2014. They will re-open for shopping and donations
at 10 a.m. Jan. 3. Everyone is reminded to not leave any donations outside of the buildings. All donations are to be brought in the back doors
during donation hours, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Regular shopping hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
NOTICE OF INTENT TO INCREASE TAX LEVY Notice is hereby given that the Board of Trustees of Illinois Valley Community College District No. 513, LaSalle, Bureau, Marshall, Lee, Putnam, DeKalb, Grundy, and Livingston counties, State of Illinois, adopted on December 17, 2013, its annual tax levy including an additional tax levy of $2,933,500 for educational purposes, as provided in Section 805/3-14.3 of Chapter 110 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, as amended. In accordance with the provisions of Section 805/3-14.3 of Chapter 110 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, as amended, the following information is provided: A petition may be filed with the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Illinois Valley Community College in Building C, Room C-301, at 815 North Orlando Smith Road, Oglesby, Illinois 61348-9692, on or before 4:30 p.m., CDT, January 17, 2014, signed by not less than 9,166 registered voters of the Illinois Valley Community College District No. 513 requesting that an election be held on the 18th day of March, 2014, to determine whether the increased levy should be authorized. If no such petition is filed with the Secretary of the Board of Trustees on or before January 17, 2014, then the District shall be authorized to levy the additional tax. Petition forms are available in Building H – Truck Driver Training Center from December 18, 2013 through January 17, 2014 and in the President’s Office from January 2 through January 17, 2014. Published in the Bureau County Republican Dec. 19, 2013.