McHenry County News FRE
E
11512 N. 2nd ST. • MACHESNEY PARK, IL 61115 • (815) 654-4850 • www.McHenrycountynewspaper.com Display Advertising & Classifieds: 815-654-4850 • Circulation: 815-654-4854 • E-mail:McHenrynews@rvpublishing.com
Volume 6 Issue 2
January 7, 2016
To Advertise In This Space Call 815-654-4850
Photo Compliments of Goin’ Solo Dance Troupe
The “OFFICIAL” 2015-2016 Goin’ Solo Dance Company Junior Select Elite Competition Team. From left to right: Alyssa, Audie, Sammy, Alexis, and Rio.
Marengo Dance Troupe Places First in Worldwide Dance Contest By Anne Eickstadt Correspondent
Rio Ottolino developed a passion for dancing when she saw ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ at the age of 3. She has been competing since she was 9 years old and has won a number of competitions. At age 13, she looked at her mother and said, “I wanna teach.” “Last May, for her birthday, we moved everything out of the living room. We converted the entire front room for her dance studio,” Kris-
tin Ottolino, Rio’s mother, tells me. Last summer, at age 14, Rio took on five girls in each of three classes: ‘Minis’ ages 4-5 years old, ‘Petites’ ages 6-9 years old, and ‘Juniors’ of 10-12 years old. The girls come in for classes on Fridays for five weeks. They then hold a recital at Joe’s Place in Marengo. Rio provides their outfits for the recital which is attended by 70 people and she treats the girls to pizza afterwards. Following the recital, Rio recruited the older students: Samantha DiMaria, sisters Alyssa and Audrey
Schubert, and Alexis Mortimer and they formed the Goin’ Solo Dance Team. They learn a new dance, choreographed by Rio, record their video in the gym at St. John’s Lutheran Church and submit their video in the Fall, 2015 Starz Dance Competition which is a world-wide competition. The five girls dance to the song ‘Chandelier’ by Sia. They compete in the Rising Starz Division and receive a Platinum score with 1st place in their division. Rio also submitted an award-winning solo dance routine to ‘Cali-
fornia Dreamin’. Her choreography received 44 out of 45 points for a nearly perfect score. “It was so exciting,” Kristin Ottolino said. “I’m extremely proud of those girls. They did fantastic for their first time out. Rio had an absolute blast. She’s all about dance. She practices solo for an hour when she gets home from Marengo High School, then she does her homework. She is pulling all ‘A’s at school. She wants to do it again [teach] next summer. The team will be competing throughout the 2016 season.”
Celebrating January By Anne Eickstadt Correspondent
January tends to be a slow month for everyone, wedged as it is between the festivities of Christmas in December and Valentine’s Day and Fat Tuesday in February. However, if you research them, you can find reasons to celebrate each day of the month. We can all find the well-known New Year’s Day on January 1, Three Kings Day on January 6 and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 18. But January 18 is also Peking Duck Day and Winnie the Pooh Day. If you are looking for reasons to celebrate in January, how about some of these? January 3 is Fruitcake Toss Day. You can do this alone or with friends. There is no one right way to toss fruitcake but if you have friends that also received fruitcake, see who can
throw it the farthest. Do not throw it at someone as the fruitcake could cause injury. Also, if you do not toss the fruitcake today, you must keep it until next Christmas. January 9 is National Take the Stairs Day. (Anyone who observed National Weigh-In Day on January 4 is probably already doing this.) January 17 is Ditch the New Year’s Resolutions Day which leads into January 19 and Rid the World of Fad Diets & Gimmicks Day. This is followed by Women’s Healthy Weight Day and National Granola Bar Day on January 21. Local Quilt Shop Day on January 23 is paired with January 24th’s Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day. The 24th is also National Bible Sunday, National Compliment Day and Talk Like a Grizzled Prospector Day. How you mix and match your celebration of these events is up to you.
January 27 is National Chocolate Cake Day and the 28th is not only Blueberry Pancake Day [isn’t it a good thing that we observed Ditch the New Year’s Resolutions Day?], it is also National Kazoo Day. If you are thinking that these events are all very frivolous, then January 29 is the day for you. It is Curmudgeons Day. It is also National Corn Chip Day and National Fun at Work Day. Sci fi/Fantasy fans can appreciate January 2 which is National Science Fiction Day followed by January 3, J. R. R. Tolkein Day [author of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy].Alarmingly, January 16 is Appreciate a Dragon Day. On a more serious note, January is National Blood Donor Month. Also, National Pet Safety Day falls on January 2, War on Poverty Day is January 8 and Remember Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
comes on January 9. January 10 is Save the Eagles Day followed by January 11’s National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Religious Freedom Day is January 16 and World Religion Day on the 17th. National Sanctity of Human Life Day and Civil Rights Day are both on January 18. Holocaust Memorial Day comes on January 27 with the School Day of Non-Violence and Peace coming on January 30. Pick a day and there is more than one way to celebrate it in January. It might be serious, fun, frivolous or downright silly [I did not mention No Pants Subway Ride Day on January 10 or National Nothing Day on January 16] but there is far more to January than a few days that separate Christmas and Valentine’s Day. For more reasons to celebrate in January, visit www.holidayinsights. com or www.holidays-and-observances.com/january