Author: Paul Stukel

Welcome to our latest edition of Fox Valley Magazine’s 4 FOR THE WEEKEND where Frosty comes for a little down time. So let’s get to it, starting with….. Can’t Beat Hemmens for the Holidays… …and not just for great alliteration. At least once during the Christmas season you’ve got to get gussied up and do something elegant. And we can’t think of anything better than going to the symphony. We’ve said it before, the Hemmens is a Fox Valley treasure. And so is the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. Outside of the CSO, there’s no better symphony in Illinois. So put on…

Santa Will Be In Da’ House! Windy Acres Farm in Geneva will be welcoming a special guest on weekends in December. The jolly old elf himself, Santa, will be on hand each weekend during Windy Acres’ Winterfest, which commenced December 4 with a two-day Craft Fair featuring a wide variety of handmade crafts designed by local vendors. During the fair, there will be food trucks, mulled wine and an open bar, plus a hot chocolate bar, hot cider and s’mores kits on the open fire. Wreaths, roping, door swags and other holiday greenery arrangements will be available while you are…

Welcome to our latest edition of Fox Valley Magazine’s 4 FOR THE WEEKEND where we wish the weather outside was frightful. So let’s get to it, starting with….. Tell Tchaikovsky The News… Is The Nutcracker kinda strange to you? We mean, sure, it’s a Christmas classic, a tradition. But it’s still kinda weird. You’ve got vermin as royalty, sugar plum fairies (whatever the hell those are), dancing dolls appearing out of cabbage, mass hysteria! But it all seems to work. So here’s to ol’ Pyotr Ilyich and his enduring (and endearing) creation. Click here for more. Yes, We Know, It…

On Tuesday afternoon, travelers down Randall in Elgin beheld an unusual site: a cow casually taking a stroll down the busy street. In truth, she was so close to traffic it’s lucky she wasn’t grazed. Rosie (not her real name), the bovine wanderer, had escaped from her owners and apparently sought greener pastures by ambling down the major thoroughfare nearby. “The call was dispatched to assist Elgin PD with a cow literally running down Randall Road, “said South Elgin Community Service Officer Rosie Vazquez as she fleshed out the story, putting “meat on the bones,” as it were. “The cow…

The man killed Tuesday afternoon when his vehicle collided head-on with a Batavia school bus just leaving Rotolo Middle School in Batavia has been identified by police. Adam Knisley, 33, of Aurora, died immediately when his Infinity 2-door collided head-on with a full sized school bus on Hart Road in Batavia. According to the Batavia Police Department, approximately 39 student were on the bus at the time of the collision. Remarkably, all but one walked away with nothing worse than minor injuries. One child was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. Knisley’s vehicle was travelling southbound on Hart Road…

Thanksgiving, especially in the Midwest, is a unique, and supremely American, holiday.  Drenched in tradition, the holiday harkens back to the time of the Puritans and the Plymouth Rock settlement, when it was largely a celebration of the harvest (although the Puritans could make every occasion religious of course). The element of giving thanks to God for our blessings took root as the pilgrims became settlers, and then colonists, and then a nation.  The first Presidential Proclamation of a “day of thanks-giving and prayer” was issued by President Washington in 1789, the birth year our Constitution.  In it, Washington was…

From the November 2021 issue of Fox Valley Magazine Thanksgiving is nearly upon us. As we said last month, Halloween may be the perfect holiday because of its lack of pressure on anyone – no pressure on parents to make sure the feast is prepared well and on-time. No pressure about presents. No pressure on kids to pretend they like the food or presents given to them. It’s just pure hedonism at its best. Thanksgiving is the peaceful holiday. OK, I can now hear women (and some men) rising up in anger, swearing like sailors that I don’t know what…

The Elgin Police Department is joining with the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Illinois State Police and nearly 200 other Illinois police and sheriff’s departments to remind motorists to Click It or Ticket and Driver Sober or Get Pulled Over throughout the Thanksgiving holiday. The safety campaign, publicly joined already by Naperville and St. Charles police departments, will run Nov. 22 –29 leading up to and following the Thanksgiving Day holiday, one of the busiest times on Illinois roads. In it’s announcement, EPD reminded drivers that if celebrating with alcohol or other impairing substances: Make a plan for a sober ride home before you…

After closing last Thursday because of an employee who tested positive for COVID, The Graceful Ordinary announced today on its Facebook page that it will be reopening on Tuesday, November 23. “Thanks so much for bearing with us throughout our recent closure and for all your support. We’re pleased to let you know The Graceful Ordinary is now open with the exception of the holiday on Thursday. We look forward to welcoming you back in once again!” The restaurant, which is located on the river at 3 E. Main in St. Charles, had been open for only ten days when…

Elgin police responded to a shots fired incident on the city’s west side early this morning. It was the 60th such incident in Elgin in 2021. At 1:19 a.m. this morning, officers responded to the 1200 block of Fleetwood Drive for a report of shots fired. Evidence of gunfire was located. There are no injuries, and no property damage has been reported at this time. If you have information that may assist, please call 847-289-2600 or to text a tip, send a message to 847411. Please include “ELGINPD” in the beginning of the text along with the message and/or tip…