Eulogy for a good old tree

It’s hard to say if a hummingbird is mourning just by the look on its face, but I think the hummers in my yard this spring are sad about the changes in their neighborhood.

That’s because their favorite resting spot, the old purple cherry plum tree in my yard, is gone. It blew down on one of those blustery days in late April, just before the hummers got back in town.

Blooming beauty

r only four days each year, this large and sprawling crabapple tree at the corner of Cherry Hill and Oak Grove catches the eyes of many passersby and neighbors alike.

Hands-only CPR training part of public health in Sun City and Huntley

The Huntley Fire Department organized a hands-only CPR event and provided essential instruction on using the AED for the Sun City Woodchucks. This demonstration was a significant opportunity for everyone to practice life-saving techniques on an adult mannequin. Lt. Kelly Gitzke, Director of Mobile Integrated Health, Huntley Fire Protection District, provided this training.

Hang Your Hat: April 18, 2024

Letters for the week of April 18.

Nostalgia kick

Youth is fleeting and time is short. In my forty-odd years on this planet, one thing has become painfully obvious. We were weird in our past and new generations will find unique ways to be weird too. In the hyper-fast capitalist machine that is entertainment, exploiting eccentricity in order to make by the numbers content has been a time-honored trade. Pushing all the familiar buttons, every studio hopes to get the same flavors from old formulas without understanding how them functions. And you think taking a movie like Road House would at least inspire a filmmaker to be bold and daring.

The heartwarming success story of Huntley’s Animal House Shelter

On a summer break from attending college at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 1996, then-Barrington resident Lesley Irwin, received a frantic phone call from a former high school classmate that would result in a remarkable turn of events for the Animal Science major.

Irwin’s friend had just witnessed a dog being thrown out of a moving vehicle on Lake Cook Road in Barrington. The terrified canine was a six-month-old female American Staffordshire Terrier that Irwin ended up adopting after the dog was treated for its injuries at a local vet. The newly named Kiley not only accompanied Irwin to her senior year of college but also changed the trajectory of Irwin’s career path.

If Acme’s here, can Coyote be far behind?

While riding my bike this morning, I passed a construction site where a new house is being built. At the entrance to the project was a line of orange barricades marked “Acme Barricades.”

And I thought, “Acme Barricades? Wile E. Coyote must be building this house.” Because if you’re a kid like me who grew up in the 1950s and 60s, Acme could mean only one thing: the Acme Catalog from which Coyote ordered every gadget imaginable to outwit Roadrunner — gadgets that failed spectacularly every time.

T time

Sun City resident Cheryl Ross has been bitten by the crafting bug.

“I never had time before retirement,” she said. “I came here and took a class on a Cricut machine. I thought, ‘I can’t do this.’ It’s too complicated.”

But then, Ross got a Cricut Explorer and started crafting.

Political Place: February 8, 2024

Note: The views expressed in these political submissions do not reflect those of the Sun Day, its staff, or those associated to the Sun Day.

McHenry County treasurer to hold presentations to promote senior tax deferral program

McHenry County Treasurer Donna Kurtz is launching a series of presentations countywide to explain and promote the Senior Real Estate Tax Deferral Program, which offers tax relief for qualified senior citizens. 

Since that time, Core Huntley has reported to trustees that Noodles and Company is scaling back its operations in Illinois and therefore decided to no longer pursue the site. In an unexpected setback, the urgent care user also opted to back out as a tenant.

Political Place: December 7, 2023

Note: The views expressed in these political submissions do not reflect those of the Sun Day, its staff, or those associated to the Sun Day.

Step 1, plan a trip… step ‘84,’ finally get to Barcelona!

You’re getting that itch to travel, so what do you do first? Most likely, step one of any travel plan is to decide where you’re going to go, and how you’ll get there, and then everything else tends to flow along. But, what if somewhere in the process everything comes off the rails and you have to make changes? It doesn’t mean your trip is a disaster even though I’ve been told about some that did go that way, but it does complicate the whole process. But even disasters sometimes provide memories that tend to last.

Hang Your Hat: November 16, 2023

Letters for the week of November 16.

Bystander CPR saves life, can save many more

On July 24, at Bowl-Hi Lanes, a 57-year-old bowler went into cardiac arrest. Bowlers began bystander CPR. Now, Robert McIntyre is alive and doing well because there were individuals who were trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

CPR can increase survival for cardiac arrest victims by up to four times.

Fall happiness colors Sun City

Sun City Resident Ken Lydecker is all ready for fall on Rocksprings Lane. His décor has caught the eye of many neighbors and residents.

Hang Your Hat: The X Files

Below you find some reader submissions of 2023 that never made it into print, but we have a chance to print now. Some, most, may appear out of date or out of context, so they may demand some patience, but that doesn’t diminish their importance.

Hang Your Hat: October 19, 2023

Letters for the week of October 19.

Political Place: October 5, 2023

Note: The views expressed in these political submissions do not reflect those of the Sun Day, its staff, or those associated with My Sun Day News.

Hang Your Hat: October 5, 2023

Letters for the week of October 5.

Biking back to a memory of Kathy and the bullfrog

As summer peaks and edges toward autumn, and with winter not far ahead down the road, I cherish my morning bike ride more and more each day.

Early every morning, weather permitting, I ride out of Sun City southward along Sandwald Road all the way to Timber Creek and back, a roundtrip of a bit more than seven miles that lasts me the better part of an hour. I wish it were longer, but that’s as far as I can go in the countryside without too great a risk of being squashed like a bug by a truck or car.

Last Sunday afternoon, my husband, myself and our puppy, Annie, headed off to the nearby Conservation District area. Spending time in nature is something that we all thoroughly enjoy and do as often as possible. What was different during this outing is that went to a park that had access to a stream. The addition of water meant our level of joy skyrocketed. Our English Springer Spaniel literally galloped on the banks of the stream as she seemed to smile with delight. We sat, talked, and watched in amazement as she swam, ran and bathed in the fresh water. Her joy at the addition of water to our outdoor activity was obvious to everyone who hiked by us.

Hang Your Hat: August 24, 2023

Letters for the week of August 24.

The cosmic loophole of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse

The headline came to my phone while I was at work: “Pee-Wee Herman Actor Paul Reubens Dead at Age 70.” My heart sank. I waited for the world around me to take a collective moment to remember Paul Reubens. But in the office, phones kept ringing and computer keyboards kept clacking. My younger coworkers may not even know who Paul Reubens is. Was. But I knew.

Proudly Serving the Community of
Sun City in Huntley

My Sunday News