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McHenry County News FRE

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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 5

January 28, 2016

To Advertise In This Space Call 815-654-4850

Groundhog Days are coming to Woodstock By Anne Eickstadt, Correspondent

T

hanks to Bill Murray and the “Groundhog Day” movie, every day is Groundhog Day in Woodstock. Each year, Woodstock celebrates the movie, which was filmed here in 1992, with a chili cookoff, breakfast, dances, special showings of the movie, and a tour of filming sites, leading up to, of course, Woodstock Willie’s prognostication early in the morning on February 2nd. We’ve had celebrities from the Groundhog Day movie and local media. Visitors have come from as far away as Australia for this event. Anyone who wants to join in the fun can do at any time. Festivities are scheduled as follows: Thursday, January 28 6:00 pm Awakening of the Groundhog at the Woodstock Opera House FREE 6:15 pm Groundhog Day Trivia at Stage Left Café FREE 7:00 – 9:00 pm Woodstock Willie Wine Party benefitting Child Advocacy Center of McHenry County at Studio 2015/Facets Friday, January 29 6:00 pm Groundhog Day Dinner/Dance begins at the Woodstock Moose Lodge Saturday, January 30 10:00 am “Groundhog Day” the movie will be shown for FREE at the Woodstock Theater

10:00 am – 4:00 pm Groundhog Bowling at Wayne’s Lanes 10:00 am Jim May’s Groundhog Tales at the Home State Bank – FREE 12:00 pm Groundhog Day Chili Cook-Off at the Woodstock Moose Lodge 1:00 pm Woodstock Rotary Bags Tournament at Ortmann’s Red Iron Tavern 1:30 pm Walking Tour of the Filming Sites beginning at the Woodstock Opera House FREE 3:30 pm Groundhog Day Symposium at Stage Left Café FREE 8:00 pm Switchback’s Annual Groundhog Day concert with the McNulty School of Irish Step Dance at the Woodstock Opera House Sunday, January 31 8 – 11:00 am Lion’s Club Pancake Breakfast at the Woodstock Moose Lodge 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Woodstock Willie’s Family Funday at the Mixin Mingle 10:00 am “Groundhog Day” the movie at the Woodstock Theater FREE 12:30 pm Walking Tour of the Filming Sites beginning at the Woodstock Opera House FREE 3:00 pm Woodstock Community Choir Concert at the Woodstock Opera House Monday, February 1 5:00 - 8:00 pm Making of Groundhog Day – Memories and Memorabilia at the Woodstock Public Library FREE

Photos by Anne Eickstadt

Above: Woodstock Willie joins Rick Bellairs for the Groundhog Prognostication in 2015 Below: We breathlessly await the 2015 prediction from the groundhog while he thinks about it.

Tuesday, February 2 7:00 am Groundhog Prognostication in the historic Woodstock Square FREE 7:20 am Drink to World Peace at the Public House of Woodstock 7:30 am Groundhog Day Breakfast at the Woodstock Moose Lodge TICKETS REQUIRED 9:00 am Walking Tour of the Filming Sites beginning at the Woodstock Moose Lodge FREE For further information, check it out online at www. woodstockgroundhog.org.

A fundraiser that really cleans up By Anne Eickstadt, Correspondent

CRYSTAL LAKE — The Friends of the Crystal Lake Library [FCLL] are raising money for the Summer Reading Program and a variety of other programs and activities. This fundraiser is continuing through January 31 and they can use your help. The FCLL have teamed up with Savers Thrift Store in Crystal Lake. When you donate items to Savers, and you mark them ‘FCLL’, Savers will give credit for the items to the Friends of the Crystal Lake Library. So, since January is the perfect time to clear away last year’s accumulation of stuff to make room for fresh experiences in the new year, now is the time for your old stuff to gain a new life and help out the library at the same time. Now is the time to clear out your garage so the car can fit back in, clean out your storage areas and donate everything for

the FCLL. It will feel wonderful to not only have gotten rid of excess ‘junk’ but it also feels great to have done something to help out the library and the community. The Crystal Lake circulating library was founded in November, 1913 in the home of Mrs. H. A. Dodge. “In 1914, the library moved from the Dodge home to a room in the local high school building. It was incorporated in 1926, and a board of eleven members was selected to control and manage the affairs of the library. By the 1930s, the number of books had grown so much that the collection was moved from the high school building to its heating plant. In 1937, the American Legion planned to build a combined library and legion headquarters. These plans fell through, but the Legion generously donated the land to the library. The library became a taxsupported agency in 1942. The

first paid librarian was hired; she was paid the princely sum of $60 a month. In 1952, a new library building, separate from the high school, was finally completed at the current location of 126 Paddock St. The library was expanded in 1958, when meeting rooms in the lower level were converted into a children’s library. In 1999 the Crystal Lake Public Library was ranked #10 among public libraries. The September issue of American Libraries included the article “Great American Public Libraries: HAPLR Ratings, Round Two,” by Thomas J. Hennen, Jr. The Crystal Lake Public Library was ranked #10 among public libraries serving communities of 25,000-49,999 across the United States. The HAPLR Index includes 15 factors. The focus is on circulation, staffing, materials, reference service and funding levels.“ The library is

See FUNDRAISER, Page 2

Missing Woodstock teen victim of gunshot wound in Phoenix, Arizona

WOODSTOCK — On Thursday, Jan. 14, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office took a missing juvenile report from a residence in unincorporated Woodstock. The parents of a missing female reported that their daughter left the residence sometime during the overnight hours of Wednesday, Jan. 13, into Thurday, Jan. 14. Through the course of the investigation, members of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division were led to believe that the juvenile was heading west to an address in Phoenix, AZ. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was contacted to assist with disseminating information. Detectives made contact with law enforcement agencies between here and Arizona, including the Phoenix Police Department. Detectives also requested a check to be conducted at a residence within the latter’s jurisdiction. The Phoenix Police Department advised that they had gone to the residence and learned that the missing juvenile had arrived at the residence with an adult male. It was later learned that the missing girl had suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was in life-threatening condition and the adult male had been declared deceased at the scene. Phoenix Police Department identified the male as Alex O’Neill, 25 years old, of Woodstock, Illinois. O’Neill is a family friend of the missing juvenile. The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to work with the Phoenix Police Department with their ongoing investigation.


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