2007 DNA Awards & Luau

DNA Awards & Luau
Thursday, March 1st, 2007
6 p.m. Cocktail Hour (Cash Bar)
7 p.m. Hawaiian Dinner
8 p.m. Award Ceremony
Entertainment: The Barefoot Hawaiian Dancers and The Pan Chicago Band

Luau attire optional

The Centre of Elgin
Heritage Ballroom
100 Symphony Way
Elgin, IL 60120

$30 per person
$300 for a table of eight

Please RSVP by Friday, February 23, 2007
Call (847) 488-1456
or
Email at jbenson@elginil.org

Make checks payable to: Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin
Send to: Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin
2 Douglas Ave
Elgin, IL 60120

Funding Flows to Fox River Renaissance Alliance Project

The Elgin city council has preliminarily approved $26,000 for a Fox River Renaissance Alliance project. The library board will decide in March whether to fund the remaining $26,000 for the engineering plans. Possible projects include: a fountain in the Fox River north of Kimball Street, a floating wetland that would attract fish and other creatures, and educational gardens. Visitors will be able to watch the fish that swarm to the area using cameras that will transmit signals to the Gail Borden Library. Hitchcock Design Group is expected to complete the plans by April. Funding for construction is expected to come from grants and donations. The project will provide environmental and educational benefits and once again demonstrates that the library is more than just a place to check out books.

Read the article from today's Daily Herald here.

Ina Will Be Making a Difference in Africa

Ina Dews is planning a trip to Rwanda to share her crocheting and quilting skills. She needs to raise $3500 to make the trip possible. Vermont-based Rwanda Knits is the non-profit organization in charge of the trip. It's founder and director, Cari Clement, says Dews would work with orphanages all over the east African country.

You may know Ina from the downtown Harvest Market where she has been manager for many years, or as a member of the Elgin Human Relations Commission or you'll find her at nearly every city council meeting.

So when so asks for your support, please help her, not that you could say no anyway, Ina can be very persuasive.

Read the Daily Herald article here.

Elgin Then & Now - The Post Office

This article is courtesy of The Elginite.

Link to the location.

Old post offices are often among the most beautiful buildings in a town, and thankfully many towns have preserved theirs, even though the U.S. Postal Service has long moved out of (most of) them. Elgin unfortunately is not one of those towns.
It was a lovely building. Had it survived, I think it would have been the finest example of Beaux-Art architecture in Elgin. Unfortunately, it was demolished because some people thought it was dirty and seedy, the same complaint they leveled at the Crocker.
Read more about the old Elgin post office.