vol. 4 no. 2
JULY/AUGUST 2020
FUN ON THE WATER KEEPING THE FAITH READ A GOOD BOOK
THE HEAT IS ON! Summer returns to the Chain
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Spirit IS A PUBLICATION OF
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FUN THINGS TO DO ON A
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
BOAT
Boating, as a sport and a popular outdoor recreational activity, is a natural form of social distancing. Your boat has to stay a certain distance away from other boats (just like cars on a roadway), and when you’re on a boat, you’re surrounded by water and fresh air. So, when a sunny day comes along and you’re looking for fun things you can do outdoors with your family, boating is the perfect stress-reliever – and it’s easy to find boat rentals near you if you don’t own a boat of your own. Boating is an on-demand escape from everyday life – and a safe activity you can do with a small group of close friends and family. Discover Boating offers these fun things you can do on a boat while staying safe with your family, and without breaking the bank:
Fishing
Regardless of whether you’re freshwater or saltwater fishing, there’s no need to go far offshore to satisfy the urge to catch fish. In
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fact, having a boat near-shore means you can fish not only in the traditional way, but also with fly-fishing gear. Some people prefer to bait a hook and wait for a fish to bite. Others prefer to troll with bait in the water. Still others love the rhythm and exercise of repeatedly casting a fly-fishing rod. All of those techniques can be used pretty much everywhere, with what you catch depending on where your boat is located.
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER
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The Spirit of The Lakes is a complimentary publication, distributed throughout the Chain O’ Lakes and Kenosha County area. Keeping up with the same great tradition as the Spirit of Geneva Lakes.
Wakeboarding
Most boats are set up for wakeboarding. Assuming that you already have life jackets on board, all that you need to add to the equation is the actual wakeboard and a tow rope for the rider to hold onto while you pull him through the water. A good wakeboard and a tow rope can be purchased online for about $300 total, and they can be used and reused not just for one season, but for years to come. Wakeboarding can be hours of fun and exercise; consider a contest among your kids, to see who can stay upright the longest, or
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ABOVE: Tubing is a great family activity when out on the lake. Remember to wear a life jacket/PFD to stay safe whether on the boat or on the tube. STOCK PHOTO Spirit of the Lakes
SPIRIT of THE LAKES
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who can jump the highest over the boat’s wake.
Water Skiing
Old-school watersports lovers may prefer water skis to wakeboards, simply because back in the 1960s and ’70s, everyone was trained to face forward, hold onto the tow rope and let the boat pull you up out of the water. Wakeboards force the rider to start out with legs turned sideways—a position that can be challenging for older riders to get comfortable using. Water skis are also less expensive than wakeboards. A good pair can be had for about $160 to $180 online. And, like wakeboards, the water skis can be used for years to come. They’re an investment in what will add up to hours upon hours of fun on the water.
Riding tow-toys
Long gone are the days when there were only inflatable tubes that kids of all ages could ride on behind a boat. Today’s inflatable tow toys come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, ranging from two-person bananas to four person “lounge chairs” with individual handholds (if the boat tows you slowly enough, you might even want to try sitting out there with a beverage). The smallest inflatable toys can be purchased online for less than $100, and they’re shaped as everything from swans to fighter jets, to suit every family’s personality—you can learn more about selecting the right tube reading, Choosing the Best
Camping
Sometimes, you just need a change of scenery. Boating offers that option in spades, even at the last minute, should the weather turn nice and your calendar have a couple days open for cruising a ways up the coast. You can anchor out on a mooring ball or with your own ground tackle, instead of pulling into a marina, which lets you create natural social distancing from all the people ashore (as well as from all the other boats in the harbor). Simply waking up the next morning in a new setting – with the sun shining, the reflection bouncing off the water and the smell of fresh air all around – can be a psychological lift unlike any other.
Dockside dinner
One of the greatest pleasures of boating is pulling up to a waterfront dock-and-dine restaurant, collecting your phoned-in order of fresh catch of the day or peel-and-eat shrimp, and then taking it back to the boat to eat with a 360-degree view of the sunset over the water. This experience has long been a favorite among boaters, even without social-
distancing requirements. Dinner with a waterfront view from the boat is even more of a treat now, with the option of cracking open a favorite beverage and sleeping at anchor for the night in the fresh air.
And the workout is great for the arms, core and legs alike. Paddleboarding is a wholebody experience
Kayaking
One- and two-person kayaks are small enough to store on a boat, and they can be A stand-up paddleboard is the best way taken out for playtime after the mothership to practice social distancing while giving is on a mooring ball in a scenic harbor. yourself a serious core workout. Once the Kayaks are usually inflatable or rigid plastic, boat is at anchor in a scenic, quiet bay, the so they’re also light and easy to launch. And paddleboard can be dropped into the water they require pretty much zero training to use. in a matter of seconds, and you can step onto If you can hold a paddle, then you can it from the boat’s swim platform. explore in a kayak. Better models also Paddleboarding is one of the quietest have foot pedals to help with steering for activities out on the water, perfect for beginners and anyone kayaking through anyone who wants to watch the birds in the water that runs a little fast. trees ashore – or, depending on the clarity of For more information, visit the water, the fish just beneath the surface. discoverboating.com.
Paddleboarding
FROM TOP: Travel the Chain O’Lakes and enjoy the local campgrounds this summer; Kayaking has increased in popularity in recent years. Kayaks can be rented at many sites on the Chain O’Lakes or purchased outright. STOCK PHOTOS Spirit of the Lakes
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Keeping the faith
Area churches adapt to the ‘new normal’ by Sandra Landen Machaj CORRESPONDENT
Like much of the Northern Illinois area, religion played an important part in the lives of the early settlers in the Chain O’Lakes area. As they began a life punctuated with a number of “new” events, including adapting to a new country, they sought to include their religion in this new life. Many of the settlers who had immigrated from Europe had endured the hardship of illness, building a home, taming the land, and the severe Midwest winter weather. So, they turned to their religion to help them through the difficult times. In the 1800s, before churches were built, services were usually held in individual homes when a traveling preacher was available, or they would meet without a priest or minister to pray together. Later as the communities grew along with more priests and ministers making their way into the area, permanent churches began to appear. Over the years the church communities grew and provided not only for the religious needs of the community but also worked with the poor and those in need of the community. The history of some local churches – Antioch United Methodist, St. Peter Catholic and St. Stephen Lutheran – have had a history of growth within the Antioch community, two of them a very
FROM TOP: Most Sundays St. Peter Catholic Church in Antioch is filled with members of the congregation celebrating Sunday Mass. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the church has stood empty on Sundays while parishioners stream the Sunday Mass. Now with social distancing rules in place members are beginning to return to church; This beautiful stained glass window, depicting Jesus knocking at the door, was a gift donated by the Grand Army of the Republic to the United Methodist Church of Antioch in 1901 when the present church was built. SANDRA LANDEN MACHAJ Spirit of the Lakes
SPIRIT of THE LAKES
7
the low, year-round population, it was deemed not to have enough of a permanent long congregation to support their own priest. history and one Thus they shared a priest with St. Patrick’s a shorter one. Parish in Wadsworth. Summertime attendance with visitors United vacationing in the Chain O’Lakes area rose Methodist Church to the extent that they would pitch a tent The United Methodist Church along Highway 83, just south of Highway is one of Antioch’s oldest church 173 to house the Sunday Mass attendees. communities and its church is the most By 1909 the membership increased recognized by both residents and visitors enough to allow the parish to have its own to the area. With a prominent Main Street priest on a permanent basis, but it was not location, any photo of downtown, focused until 1929 that the current church at 557 on Main Street looking north has the church Lake St. in Antioch, was built. on the left side, with its distinctive steeple Built of Lannon stone, the church had an reaching upward. altar composed of Italian marble and hand The United Methodist Church of Antioch officially began in 1879 after a meeting was held in the local Baptist Church by evangelist A.J. Bell. Following this meeting a Methodist Church Community was established by November of that same year with a membership of about 40. After seven years the community was able to purchase the old Baptist Church, where the original meeting had been held, for $400; it became the home of the congregation until the building began to deteriorate and the congregation grew too large to be accommodated here. In 1901 the current church was built that, along with its additions over the years, remains the place of worship, social activities, community meetings, Sunday school and preschool classes. The church was the recipient of two beautiful stained glass windows one from the Grand Army of the Republic depicting Christ knocking at the door and another, from the Epworth League, depicting Christ in the Garden. These two windows still can be seen in the worship space of the church. The church community has been under the direction of the Rev. Char Hoffmann since 2017 and is involved in a variety of programs to aid those in need in the community.
carved wood, according to parish historian Mary Leonard. Huge stained glass windows modeled after the windows of the 13th Century, Chartres Cathedral in France lined the walls. Many were donated in honor of deceased members of their family. With Antioch’s growing population due to the return of military members from World War II, a need for a Catholic school became evident. Under the direction of the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary a Catholic Elementary School opened in
St. Peter Catholic Church
St. Peter’s is another church with a history almost as old as Antioch itself, having been formed In 1897, five years after the village of Antioch was incorporated. The church first gathered inside a small frame building on Victoria Street; it held about 25 rows of pews for churchgoers and was heated by two potbelly stoves. Although Antioch exhibited a need for a Catholic church that need was not found to be year round as the population was predominately summer vacationers. With
8
ABOVE: Composed of Lannon stone, the home of St. Peter’s Catholic Church was completed in 1930 and dedicated to George Cardinal Mundelein, who had been the Archbishop of the Chicago Archdiocese. St. Peter’s Church is a part of the Archdiocese of Chicago. SANDRA LANDEN MACHAJ Spirit of the Lakes
July • August 2020
1949 with an enrollment of 213 students, but by 2016 it closed due to declining enrollment. St. Peter Catholic Church is now, along with St. Bede Church in Ingleside, a part of the Our Lady of the Lakes Parish. The current pastor is Fr. George Koeune.
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
St. Stephen Lutheran Church is the newest of the churches highlighted here and is located just a little south of downtown Antioch on a Hillside along Highway 59 just south of Route 173. The church community had its start in 1963 when the board of the Lutheran Church in America sent an investigative team, which knocked on more than 250 doors in Antioch to determine the need for a Lutheran congregation. The survey recognized the need for a Lutheran church community in the area and a mission church was established. The Board of American Missions purchased the land on Hillside where the current church now stands. The first worship services were held at Antioch High School on Dec. 4, 1964, with 71 worshipers attending. Over the years, the church community continued to grow and a worship center and a parsonage were built. These were followed by additions of classrooms, a fellowship hall, a library, and expanded office space. St. Stephen’s really became involved in community outreach programs such as the Open Arms Pantry, the Antioch Area Healthcare Accessibility Alliance, Christmas Day Dinner for Seniors, and were involved in the creation of the parish Sundays meant the church was full of nurse program. Many of these community programs were joint works with the United parishioners attending services to pray Methodist Church and It. Ignatius of together and in some cases to gather after
Antioch Episcopal Church. services. The Rev. Rebecca Gordon became pastor All that changed in March of this year of St. Stephen Lutheran Church in 2017. when the coronavirus pandemic began to spread and gatherings of more than 10 were Church today no longer allowed in an attempt to halt the For each of these faith communities, spread of the virus.
With the need to isolate to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the means of completing the work of the churches has
changed. With churches empty, pastors had to find new ways of reaching out to their membership and share God’s word. “The work of God goes on whether we are gathered in church or reaching out to our membership in other ways,” Gordon said.
ABOVE: The United Methodist Church on Main Street in Antioch is recognized by both visitors and residents alike as it is featured in photographs of downtown Main Street looking north. SANDRA LANDEN MACHAJ Spirit of the Lakes
SPIRIT of THE LAKES
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Fortunately with the help of modern technology, many of the churches are able to continue their work of meeting both the spiritual needs of their community and to provide for those with physical needs, albeit in a different manner than before.. “Today, using technology, we bring church to member’s homes through YouTube and Zoom meetings,” Hoffman said. “We have been recording our church service on Zoom so it is possible to watch using YouTube whenever convenient.” St. Stephen’s also uses Zoom and streams it live on Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. Sunday church services are not the only important works of the church. Many programs to help those in need are carried on by the churches and in spite of the pandemic, the work needs to continue, and so it does. “We continue to have our committees meet every two weeks through a Zoom meeting where we share a virtual coffee time. We have had to change how we minister to those in need,” Hoffman said. “For example while we used to provide homemade food for Pads, we now donate money to purchase foods for them. We are still able to provide some workers to
help with the food pantries. We offer grief sharing through a Zoom program.” The Methodist Church’s preschool teachers have continued to keep in touch with their students by wearing costumes and driving by their homes. They also leave packets of enrichment materials, something that is enjoyed by both students and their parents. “While nothing replaces in-person work, we continue to keep in contact distantly as best we can,” Gordon said. “We continue our midweek phone tree to check on the elderly and those in need. Our committees continue their good works even though some is accomplished remotely. The church is not closed. We are just not meeting in person.” At St. Peter’s Church, each day the church bells ring starting at 9 a.m. for those who are afflicted with COVID-19 and fighting for wellness. They ring again at noon for the health-care workers and those attending to the sick. At 3 p.m. the bells ring to honor the first responders and essential workers. The 6 p.m. bells are for people of all nations. The final day’s bells ring at 9pm for those who have lost their lives that day. All the churches request that members remember to continue to contribute to the church so that the bills, which continue even without services being held onsite, can be paid and the charitable work can continue. “We are very fortunate that we have a
generous congregation who continue to contribute remotely,” Gordon said. While now churches have been given the opportunity to provide Sunday services in their place of worship, it is not without restrictions. In his letters to his parishioners at St. Peter’s, posted on the parish website, Koeune stated he was pleased the archbishop finally gave guidelines for returning to church. He was, however, unhappy that each parish can only open one church. Since they have two churches, St. Bede and St. Peter, a choice had to be made. In telling his parishioners the reason for his choice in a letter to the congregation, Koeune said “I decided to open St. Peter’s because it is the larger church and we can hold more parishioners while maintaining safe distancing. St. Peter’s also has a large elevator and a cleaning crew so the church can be cleaned thoroughly between services.” As of press time the other two churches were still working on ways to reopen the church safely. Check the websites and Facebook pages for the latest information. “Remember church is not closed. Just not meeting in our buildings at this time,” Gordon said. “We all look forward to returning to full services at church.”
Although St. Stephen Lutheran Church is empty of worshipers at this time, it will not be long before once again it will be filled with members thankful for surviving the pandemic. SANDRA LANDEN MACHAJ Spirit of the Lakes
SPIRIT of THE LAKES
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Check it out Drop by the Little Free Library for a new book by Sandra Landen Machaj CORRESPONDENT
We have all seen them – a pole topped with a mounted box, which may be plain or decorative, in front of a home, business, school or church. Open the box and you will find it filled with a variety of books. So what is the purpose of these boxes of books? They are Little Free Libraries, books to be shared with friends and neighbors in the community. Little Free Libraries began with a simple idea. Take a box full of books, mount the box on a pole and make all the books available for the taking. It is a way to share books that you have
enjoyed with others. The first Little Free Library was built in 2009 with Todd Bol, a native of Hudson, Wisconsin, who was searching for a unique retirement gift for his mother. He was searching for a gift that would honor her years as a teacher and her love of books and reading. His thoughts led him to the idea of building the Little Free Library. He designed and constructed a small wooden house that resembled a miniature one-room schoolhouse. He mounted the little schoolhouse on a pole and placed it in the front lawn and filled it with books. The unique box was a curiosity and it did not take long for neighbors to gather around and inspect the contents and to take advantage of this book exchange, where they could share their favorite books. Take a book or leave a book the choice is yours. It also did not take long to see
This whimsical bookworm will bring a smile to any child’s face as he or she chooses a book. SANDRA LANDEN MACHAJ Spirit of the Lakes
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additional boxes on poles begin to appear in the neighborhood. Each was as unique as the person who created it. From simple square boxes to elegantly designed Victorian Mansions, the choice reflected both the artistic ability of the builder and his or her interests. Enthusiasm for reading spread throughout the neighborhood as more neighbors built their own little box of books for neighbors to share and enjoy. When finished with the book, it can be passed onto a friend or returned to the Little Free Library for someone else to enjoy. The Little Free Library was officially incorporated by Bol and his friend Rick Brooks on May 16, 2012, and in the same year registered it as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission statement of “inspiring a love of reading, building community, and seeking creativity by fostering neighborhood book exchanges around the world.” Bol and his friends began making some of these libraries and giving them away along with a hand-crafted sign with official Little Free Library charter numbers. Looking to cover expenses to build more libraries, he enlisted the help of a carpenter, Henry Miller of rural Cashton, Wisconsin, who crafted these boxes using recycled wood from a 100-year-old barn that had been destroyed in a tornado. They began charging low fees to cover expenses. The demand for the libraries continued to grow and they continued to produce more boxes in various styles and sizes. People were free to purchase these boxes or to build their own libraries and then register them with Little Free Libraries and receive their official plaque. Today the nonprofit corporation offers a variety of book boxes for sale in a large range of prices. Some are kits to assemble while others are completely assembled. Bol and Brooks ran the company for a couple of years and watched it grow both in the United States and around the world. Brooks left the organization in 2014 but Bol continued until his death from pancreatic cancer in 2018. Bol, raised by a teacher, and went on to become a teacher himself, had a lot of respect for Andrew Carnegie, the philanthropist who at the turn of the 20th century funded the creation of 2509 free public libraries across the United States. On his website, Bol was quoted as saying that he wished to accomplish the placement of 2510 Little Free Libraries, one more library than Carnegie, although he acknowledged that Carnegie had a more difficult challenge because of the cost of the Carnegie libraries. “The goal was reached in August 2012, a year and a half before our original target date. By January of 2014, the total number of registered Little Free Libraries in the world was conservatively estimated to be nearly 15,000 with thousands more being built,” Bol is quoted on the Little Free Library website. While many of the Little Free Libraries are found in front of individual homes and are created and maintained by the homeowners, others are projects created by school groups, scout groups, church groups and clubs. Many of the boxes are uniquely painted and decorated often by children who enjoy creating their very own look. Whoever licenses the Little Free Library becomes its steward and is responsible for its maintenance. The steward also has control of the types of books that they offer to share with others. They are expected to monitor the quality of books in their box. Children’s books are popular and are often seen in Little Free Libraries placed on or near school grounds while Little Free Library boxes placed in front of a church often contain books of a religious nature. The libraries placed on private family home properties usually
FROM TOP: Welcoming visitors, this Little Free Library leaves no doubt to the visitor as to its purpose. Take a book, leave a book is predominately scrawled across its front; Looking inside this very well organized Little Free Library, one will find adult fiction on the top shelves and an equally large display of children’s books on the bottom shelf. SANDRA LANDEN MACHAJ Spirit of the Lakes
SPIRIT of THE LAKES
13
contain both adult and children’s books to meet the reading needs of the whole family. Some will actually place two separate libraries next to each other – one tall and one shorter – to accommodate books at the right height to be reachable for children.
Local free libraries
Kathleen Betke of Johnsburg has registered her Little Free Library in that community. “This library is located in Hiller Park. Being a Little Free Library steward marks a check off my bucket list. Please visit,” she said on the Little Free Library World Map. Area clubs or school groups also donate these special libraries to the community. In the Grayslake area the Gagewood Lions Club, Gages Lake has donated several of the libraries. Many of these have been painted by school children for a unique look. While placing a Little Free Library on your property is generally not a problem, it doesn’t hurt to check with the local zoning board before doing so. There have been a few instances where zoning regulations needed to be amended to allow the structures. One such was in Kansas where a 9-year-old boy’s library was shut down because of a city ordinance that did not allow detached structures on the property. Fortunately the City Council unanimously approved a moratorium that allowed the Little Free Libraries to be placed on private properties thus furthering the growth of more Little Free Libraries in that community. Another community required the shutdown of a Little Free Library because the library was not in a commercial zone, the only place libraries were allowed in that community. There too the ruling was quickly amended to allow the library to continue. Today the libraries have surpassed 100,000 registered Little Free Libraries located in more than 100 countries worldwide. With so many community libraries in the area, occasionally someone will question the need for the Little Free Libraries. For many of us, reading has been a part of our lives from our early
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This Little Free Library offers a place to sit and peruse the books available. On a nice summer or fall day what better activity to enjoy than to sit in the park and read. SANDRA LANDEN MACHAJ Spirit of the Lakes
days when parents and grandparents shared a variety of stories as they sat with us and read. These early stories brought the magic of fairy tales and knowledge of lands other than our own. So it is not surprising that books became an important part of our lives and for many of us reading continues to be a daily pleasure. While today reading is not only accomplished by reading printed books but also the use of digital readers. Many enjoy the digital readers especially for travel, but for some of us there is nothing like a “real” book. If you have books to share instead of leaving them to collect dust, consider placing a little free library in your yard and share them. An added benefit is you will become better acquainted with your neighbors. To learn more about Little Free Libraries, visit www. littlefreelibrary.org for information about building your own Little Free Library. They offer a variety of videos to help you in this task. Remember to register your library with the organization to receive your charter sign and the registration number for the library. There is a onetime charge of $40 to register the library if you don’t purchase the kit to make the box from them. Purchased kits include the registration plaque. To locate the Little Free Libraries near you visit the website and find the Little Free Library World Map. Insert your town, county or zip code to find the Little Free Libraries near you. Visit them to pick out the books you are looking forward to reading. And if you have a book to share, bring it with. Take a book and leave a book.
Strang Funeral Home Of Antioch Serving the area since 1912
Licensed in Wisconsin & Illinois
Dave Moore, Dan Dugenske, Directors 1055 S. Main Street - Antioch, IL 847-395-4000 or 800-622-4441 www.strangfh.com
372550
July • August 2020
Caravelle Lighting has all your summer fan needs, including 9307 S Rt. 12, Richmond, Ill. 815-678-4558
www.caravellelight.com
Hours: Tues. 9-6; Wed.-Fri. 9-5; Sat. 10-2; Closed Sun. & Mon.
373331
Abbey Springs is a perfect venue for your golf outing, wedding and special events of all sizes. Beautifully set on the rolling slopes of Geneva Lake’s south shore.
www.abbeysprings.org
262.275.6113 SPIRIT of THE LAKES
305096
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ANTIOCH’s STREET FAIRE Fun in Downtown July 17-19
SNOWMEN ON THE CHAIN (of Lakes) Downtown Antioch, July 15 - Sept. 15 Snowmen in Display Windows Visit and play our contests this summer
ANTIOCH’S MARGARITA PARTYVILLE (Ladies)
Saturdays in August 50 Tickets per Saturday
BREAKFAST & BEER WALK
Info & Tickets available at AntiochChamber.org
376317
Select Saturdays in September & October 50 Tickets per Saturday