Resident Reporter: February 24, 2011

Centegra honors organ donors

MCHENRY — Centegra Health System will now honor people who become organ and tissue donors by flying Donate Life flags outside of its hospitals in McHenry and Woodstock.

“Centegra’s hospital staff and visitors will now know each time someone has made the selfless decision to be an organ and tissue donor when they see the Donate Life flag unfurled on our hospital flagpoles,” said Centegra Chief Executive Officer Michael S. Eesley. “The flag will recognize the extraordinary gesture a donor or donor family made at our hospital and signify that many lives may be saved or enhanced through the donor’s generous gift of donation.”

The Donate Life flag flew to honor the donation decision for the first time on January 26 at Centegra Hospital—McHenry.

“Raising a flag to honor these extraordinary, heartfelt donations is a small way to pay tribute to donors and their family members, Eesley said. “Opportunities for organ donation are rare, so teamwork between Centegra’s hospitals and Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network, the organ procurement organization we work with to coordinate organ and tissue donation, is critical to the success of donation and, ultimately, transplantation.”

Centegra Hospital–McHenry and Centegra Hospital–Woodstock both have established an environment that prepares hospital staff to recognize and refer every potential donation, said Allison Wallace, Gift of Hope’s Hospital Development Coordinator who serves as the liaison between Centegra’s hospitals and Gift of Hope.

“Centegra Health System is committed to the vital partnership that can make organ and tissue donation possible and produce rewarding outcomes for donors and donor families. We encourage every Illinoisan to contribute to those positive results by registering his or her decision to be an organ and tissue donor at DonateLifeIllinois.org,” Wallace said.

Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network is a not-for-profit organ procurement organization entrusted by the nation’s healthcare system with coordinating organ and tissue donation and providing donor family services and public education in Illinois and northwest Indiana. Since its inception in 1986, Gift of Hope has coordinated donations that have saved the lives of more than 18,000 organ transplant recipients and improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of tissue transplant recipients. As one of 58 organ procurement organizations that make up the nation’s organ and tissue donation system, Gift of Hope works with 179 hospitals and serves 12 million residents in its donation service area.

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Sampler lecture series begins year 25

Beginning Monday, March 21 and continuing each Monday afternoon through April 11, the McHenry County Historical Society Museum at 6422 Main Street, Union will host its annual lecture series. The four part series, now in its 25 year, focuses on local history, historic preservation, and antiques and collectibles. The theme for this year’s Sampler Series is “Built By the Auto: Roadside Architecture.”

Three programs, those on March 21, 28, and April 4 will be held at 2 p.m. The final program on Monday, April 11 will be at 7 p.m. Individual program tickets are $10. The four-part series costs $35 or $30 for members of the McHenry County Historical Society. Reservations may be made by calling 815-923-2267. Tickets will be available at the door.

On March 21, Museum Administrator Nancy Fike will take the audience on a virtual tour of McHenry County’s often hidden “built by the auto” remains. The following Monday, March 28, Wisconsin architectural historian and author Jim Draeger will talk on “Great Old Wisconsin Gas Stations.” April 4 brings Lake County Discovery Museum Manager of Historical Resources Christine Pyle here. Her topic is “Fun Along the Road.” Using postcard images from the Curt Teich Post Card Collection at Lake County, she will show the often colorful and whimsical architectural styles of early roadside architecture.

The Series finishes with an evening talk by Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Chief Architect Mike Jackson sharing his thoughts on “What’s Next to Preserve.”

For further information on this lecture series and/or the McHenry County Historical Society membership, programs and research opportunities contact at 815-923-2267 or go on the website www.mchonline.org.

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Free throw champs!

Ten boys and girls from the Huntley area, ages 10-14, were named local champions of the 2011 Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship and have earned the right to compete at the district level. St Mary of Huntley Council #11666 sponsored the competition January 15 at Centegra HealthBridge, Huntley. All youngsters ages 10-14 were eligible to participate.

Katie Weidner was the 10-year-old girls’ champion and Kyle Owens was the winner of the 10-year-old boys’ division. In the 11-year-olds’ bracket Morgan Clausen was the girls’ champion and Matthew Gelander was the boys’ champion. Twelve-year-old winners in the girls’ and boys’ division were Alexa Brown and Michael Gawron. The 13-year-old girls’ division was won by Erin Huckins and the boys’ by Joseph Parks. Fourteen-year-old champions were Tamura Funke in the girls’ bracket and Kyle Zender in the boys’. Each contestant was allowed 15 free throw attempts in the contests. Ties were settled by successive rounds of five free throws per contestant until a winner emerged.

Each of these winners will compete in the district competition to be held on Saturday, February 26 at St. Margaret Mary Catholic School with an eye toward moving on to the state and international levels.

Cutline: Michael Gawron accepting the Champion Award for 12-year-old boys’ division from Sir Knight Frank Rzeszutko at the Free Throw Championship sponsored by the St. Mary of Huntley Knights of Columbus on January 15, 2011.

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Gazebo Quilt Guild features Sun City resident Liss Kundich

Gazebo Quilters Guild of Huntley will hold their March meeting on Tuesday, March 8 at First Congregational Church, 11628 Main Street in Huntley, beginning with social time at 9 followed by our meeting at 9:30. 

The program will be a trunk showing by Liss Kundich of Sun City.  Liss was born in Denmark, lived in Alberta, Canada before setting in Santa Maria valley in California and later moved to Sun City.  She began making quilts in 1965 and throughout the years has made close to 1000 quilts. 

It has been a joy for her to make quilts for her children, grandchildren, Project Linus, and in 2008, she began a new undertaking for Diplomacy Quilts for Afghanistan children.  To date about 25 ladies have made and shipped about 650 quilts to our military to distribute to the villages, hospitals, and orphanages. Distributing the quilts gives our troops a sense of our caring and appreciation for their service and gives the Afghanistan people a better understanding of the American people.

Liss, a traditionalist, feels very strongly about the old arts and the old ways of doing things.  She quilts about four or five hours a day. 

There is no charge for Guild members, for guests the show is $5.  All proceeds from this trunk showing are for postage to ship the quilts to Afghanistan. 

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