Bright Program celebrates inauguration

On Aug. 23, the Pioneer Center for Human Services and the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association (NISRA) celebrated the inauguration of the Huntley Bright Program through a ribbon-cutting ceremony, which also included a multi-chamber mixer that was hosted by the Huntley Area Chamber of Commerce.

Village board discusses golf cart regulations in Sun City

Village Manager David Johnson presented a board discussion only an agenda item on the use of golf carts on roads outside Sun City and Regency Square.

“The current Village code permits golf cards on the roadway network within Del Webb’s Sun City and the streets and roadways within Regency Square development to include Regency Parkway and Farm Hill Drive.”

Sun City resident shows that wheelchair softball is in a league of its own

Sun City resident Alex Schank is behind the plate from May to August officiating for 16-inch and 12-inch slow pitch softball games. Schank travels to Chicago Suburbs and all over the United State to ump for various leagues. One of the leagues that Schank has umpired for a number of years is The National Wheelchair Softball Association (NWSA).

“I have been involved with the Wheelchair Softball League since 2001. I have been umpired every year since 2001 except for covid,” he said.

Sun City artist explains how creativity can help the aging process

Marilyn Schnake has a message for Sun City residents: “You are never too old to make your own art, your work that satisfies you alone.”

Schnake takes pleasure in not only creating art herself but encouraging others to express themselves. She has an extensive background in art education.

Schnake said, “Creating art relieves stress, encourages creative thinking, and imparts mental health benefits. Art helps people express experiences that are too difficult to put into words.”

“I just planted a couple of seeds and it kept growing. Now, my neighbors are requesting seeds from the sunflower,” he said.

Sun City resident adopts a ‘not-so-secret’ garden

Sun City Huntley has stunning views and a very well-maintained nature area. There is a 3.5-mile trail that winds around Wildfire Lake and continues past the backyards of many houses. On one portion of the walk that goes past homes, a jogger, bicyclist, or a walker might find a sudden burst of color. This appears behind Neighborhood 24: Brentwood Botanical’s Adopt-A-Plot. This was started by Artie Tepper, a long-time resident of Neighborhood 24.

How did Tepper go about adopting that area of land?

Ten-year-old rescues lost dog

A few weeks ago, local community Facebook pages reported a dog that was running loose throughout Talamore. Residents kept reporting on the whereabouts of the dog for days but the dog could not be caught. She was reported in the fields and was sighted more than once in the middle of the road. Residents tried to call for it, but the dog was not responding to the pleas.

Carol Johnson, Sun City resident, had a plan and a 10-year-old granddaughter, Lily Chrzanowski. They took charge and got the job done.

Pollin brings a taste of Paris

On this particular morning in July, Pierre Pollin has already put in two hours on the pickleball court. At age 75, he enjoys a busy life in Sun City: he serves as president of his bridge club, he enjoys cycling, and he comments that men even older than he keep him on his toes during pickleball matches (“There is one guy who is 97 or 98 and he runs for the ball,” says Pollin, incredulously.)

Pollin’s idyllic, slower-paced life now is in stark contrast to his long, successful career as chef and owner of a popular French restaurant for 30 years, followed by a dozen years of teaching at Kendall College at National Louis University in Chicago.

Board rejects expensive sign upgrade

SUN CITY – The Sun City Board of Directors were shocked when, at the June board meeting, quotes for a new sign at Veterans Memorial Field came in at $85,000. The board rejected that proposal and sent the project back to the Strategic Planning and Advisory Committee (SPAC) for revisions.

The mystery of brain fog

What exactly is “brain fog?” According to CRConsumerReports/On Health, this kind of mental fog has become a common symptom of long COVID which is “the complex condition that sometimes emerges after a case of COVID-19.” It is “characterized by difficulty focusing, sluggish thinking, and memory lapses.” Brain fog also can be seen in other conditions: chronic insomnia, cancer therapies, drug side effects, head injuries, strokes, and depression as in a form of mental cloudiness. Difficult to treat, physicians tell us that they may be able to treat some of the conditions that cause it.

Q2 financial report

Treasurer Bob McGouey presented the Second Quarter financial report at the July Sun City Board meeting.

Handshakes all around at National Night Out

Sun City softball players wrap up National Night Out with Huntley’s first responders with their final play (below) followed by a round of handshakes.

FSR helps launch birthday celebration for kids in need

The Property Manager plays an important role in addressing the needs of Sun City Residents, supporting the boards, ensuring efficient operations, and planning for the future. Residents are familiar with those activities. But do you know the staff is making a difference in our surrounding community also? First Service Residential took on the challenge of bringing a glimmer of fun in the form of “Party in a Bag” to help a child celebrate their birthday.

Deanna Loughran, Sun City Executive Director said, “As a parent, it broke my heart knowing that some kids would not be able to celebrate their birthday. I remember all the fun celebrations my kids had. One of the last ones I had for one of my daughters, was a Hawaiian-themed one.”

Sun City resident recalls time at orphanage

Boney Bones: that’s the name that Joanie Berg was known by at St. Hedwig.

“In the forties, my sister Sally, who was two years older, and I were put in St. Hedwig’s orphanage in Niles. My mother died of cancer at the of 34 and my father was in the U.S. Army in Europe, fighting the Germans,” Berg said.

How to get better care from your doctor

Even though older adults are living longer in this country, almost 61% are dealing with multiple chronic conditions. CONSUMER REPORTS states “This makes solid medical care essential as we age…for older people errors are “much more likely to have consequences – their physiology is just not as adaptable.” Furthermore, Americans over the age of 50 say that 20% of them have doctors (who) have made assumptions about them based on their age, which can lead to inappropriate care. (For instance, both my husband and I fairly recently fainted in two foreign countries due to overcrowded conditions with heated temps, made worse through an overdose of blood pressure meds having been prescribed to both of us. This was due to our family physician not taking into account that we both had been very physically active in our daily routines for years.)

Fundraising effort for Huntley Hospital builds character

Characters of Character is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide a firm foundation for children to establish strong civic values and we are focused on the Huntley Hospital!

Flyers Club/Aviation Interest Group soaring

Wilbur Wright said, “The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air.”

Sun City has its share of residents that have a background in aviation or just a love of flying. The Aviation Interest Group is inviting those residents to join their group.

Kurt Kuehnert, please take a bow

I want to tell you for a minute about an unsung hero. Sorry, I can barely keep a straight face just writing that because unsung hero is probably an overstatement so far as our readers are concerned, but the term is still apt because he’s both unsung and a hero to this newspaper.

His name is Kurt Kuehnert, and after ten years, he recently retired from his Advertising Manager position.

Water conservation, planning prove critical as Huntley area population grows, local experts say

As the population in McHenry and Kane Counties continues to grow rapidly, will there be enough drinking water to satisfy the demand?

Yes, with smart planning, a region-wide collaboration and residents as well as businesses adopting a strong water-conservation ethic.

That’s the word from local and state water experts.

Happy camper

If you were an active camper, does not mean you have to give up camping when you hit your golden years. Esther Bell, a Sun City resident, camping for 55 years continues to hitch her camper to the wagon and get back to nature.

Bell said, “In college, we went camping to a spot with no water, and no toilets. We brought big coolers, dug our latrines, and hung our toilet paper on branches. That trip as difficult as it sounds, but it was made worse when a tent started on fire from a spark from a campfire.”

Heat protection needed

Did you know that heat-related illnesses are the most risky and dangerous for older adults? This becomes true with the presence of age-producing conditions and medications that can increase susceptibility to heat. Extreme heat has continued to become more common in the U.S. With higher outdoor temperatures, more heat-related illnesses, such as heatstroke, are found annually.

Tall Oaks camera committee created to process data

It was announced at the May 25 Sun City board meeting that four cameras were purchased at a cost of $9,000 and that they would be installed at the Tall Oaks Courts for unspecified purposes. Executive Director Loughran did state that “they’re not for security purposes.”

85K Veterans Memorial Field sign rejected

Six sample illustrations for a new monument sign at the recently renamed Veterans Memorial Field were presented at the June 22 meeting of the Sun City Board. The illustrations showed stone signs that were in the six feet high by nine feet wide range with ornamental stones as embellished frames.

Red Raiders take bows for All-Fox Valley Conference excellence

Huntley pitcher Jori Heard fires a strike in action earlier this season. She was named first team all-state.

Sun City resident grows pineapple in home

Sun City resident Bob Begora began to worry about the pineapple top he had planted in a small pot two years ago, as he noted not much progress had occurred in its growth.

Having been a wholesale produce buyer for major hotel chains for over 30 years, Begora has had the opportunity to experience the whole pineapple lifecycle through his visits to plantations in Hawaii and always had the idea in his mind to grow a pineapple of his own.

Local author wins 2022 bronze Independent Publisher Book Award

Women’s fiction author and former life coach Merida Johns took a leap of faith in 2017 when she decided to transition from publishing academic literature to writing fiction upon being challenged to do so by one of her colleagues during a conference call.

“The other [life] coaches and I were talking about how best to disseminate information about leadership and how to have a flourishing life and one of the coaches asked me about writing a book on leadership,” Johns said. “I really wanted to take the concept of leadership and positive psychology and self-awareness and flourishing lives, and I wanted to embody those concepts in stories looking at how ordinary folks, ordinary people, really face challenges.”

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