Smart Living Rockford - March 23, 2021

Smart L iving Your Better Quality of Life Magazine • Rockford Region/Beloit/Freeport 95¢ • March 2021 • No. II

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Right in Our Region

RMTD: Celebrating 50 Years of Reliable Service See Page 16

What Exactly is Easter?

Let’s All Join Together to Support the Local Businesses that Make Our Community Stronger!

(Photo: Melinda Overturf has been a driver with RMTD since 2018.)

Best of Life Information for Our Region’s Residents & Visitors Proudly Serving the Needs of 326,000 Neighbors - For Your Home, Health & Fun!

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In This Issue

Right in Our Region ........................Cover & p. 16 RMTD: Celebrating 50 Years of Reliable Local Public Transportation Inspiration & Worship ......................................12 So What Exactly is Easter?

Smart L iving ™

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Bill Hughes Executive Editor/Web Editor Chris Linden Managing Editor Jermaine Pigee Editor Emeritus Janine Pumilia Multimedia Editor Sara Myers Graphics Director Samantha Behling Graphic Designer Ashley Smith Contributing Writers Peggy Werner, Paula Kalivoda Furniss General Sales Manager Brent Hughes Sales Manager Brad Hughes Fort Wayne General Manager Sherri Cassedy Advertising Sales Representatives Brian Hughes, Jeremy Jones, Nita Lasky Administration & Circulation Manager Lisa Hughes Distribution Kelly Fairbairn Website www.SmartLivingWeekly.com Published by Hughes Media Corp.

222 Seventh St., Rockford, IL, 61104 (815) 316-2300, Fax: (815) 316-2301 lhughes@northwestquarterly.com Smart Living.

Copyright 2021 by Hughes Media Corp., 222 Seventh St., Rockford, IL, 61104. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photograph or illustration without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.

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In This Issue

Right in Our Region ........................Cover & p. 16 RMTD: Celebrating 50 Years of Reliable Local Public Transportation Inspiration & Worship ......................................12 So What Exactly is Easter?

Smart L iving ™

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Bill Hughes Executive Editor/Web Editor Chris Linden Managing Editor Jermaine Pigee Editor Emeritus Janine Pumilia Multimedia Editor Sara Myers Graphics Director Samantha Behling Graphic Designer Ashley Smith Contributing Writers Peggy Werner, Paula Kalivoda Furniss General Sales Manager Brent Hughes Sales Manager Brad Hughes Fort Wayne General Manager Sherri Cassedy Advertising Sales Representatives Brian Hughes, Jeremy Jones, Nita Lasky Administration & Circulation Manager Lisa Hughes Distribution Kelly Fairbairn Website www.SmartLivingWeekly.com Published by Hughes Media Corp.

222 Seventh St., Rockford, IL, 61104 (815) 316-2300, Fax: (815) 316-2301 lhughes@northwestquarterly.com Smart Living.

Copyright 2021 by Hughes Media Corp., 222 Seventh St., Rockford, IL, 61104. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photograph or illustration without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.

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Kidnapped Hearts

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wo of my nieces welcomed their first babies this spring and our daughter-inlaw Breanne expects her first in May. Hence, we’ve lately been “attending” Zoom baby showers, sharing sage advice on parenting (?) and learning about dubious trends like swaddling – wrapping baby up tight as a burrito so she can’t even move her arms. (Why?) Since I don’t want to scare the yoga pants off these young parents, I mostly keep my yap trap shut. What I really want to tell them is this: “You think childbirth and infancy are the scary parts? Wait ’til your child runs a high fever.

Wait ’til your baby’s heart is broken by a careless friend or suitor. Wait ’til your baby drives alone in traffic for the first time. Wait ’til you drop your baby off at college and return home to face the empty bedroom. Speaking of college, have you started a college fund yet?”

Rearing kids came naturally to me. Letting go of them is something I’m still trying to figure out.

It’s by elegant design that we grow into parenting one day at a time, year by year. Intellectually, we know from the start that our babies will grow up and leave us if we do our jobs right. But if we had to emotionally process that separation on the first day a 7-pounder is placed in our arms, we’d collapse in despair.

At least I would have.

I recall nodding when the well-wishers told me to “savor every minute because they grow so fast.” Now I wonder, “Did I do enough savoring?” Along with savoring, there was a lot of making sure everyone was clean, fed, rested, vaccinated, socialized, financially supported, caught up on homework and driven to wherever they needed to be next.

Now I’m one of the well-wishers. I feel enormous joy for these young parents. I also feel a stab of pity – They have no idea that their hearts are about to be kidnapped forever.

The most natural thing in the world – generations replacing one another – is still the most miraculous.

Spring is a time for rebirth, redemption, new life. Savor it! ❚

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Inspiration & Worship

What is Easter?

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aster celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was executed by political and religious leaders in Jerusalem in about 33 A.D. This event opened an era of human history in which eternal life is offered to anyone who believes in Christ Jesus, the Messiah.

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

- Galatians 3:28 (NIV) Easter marks the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies, including those

by Isaiah, made 1,000 years before Christ’s birth. Isaiah said a savior would be born in Bethlehem to a descendant of King David.

He would be exalted, beaten and rejected; would be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver; would be silent before his accusers and would die with no bones broken. He would rise from the dead, in a rich man’s tomb, after three days and nights. All of these prophecies, and many more, came to pass.

What the prophets did not know was that Christ’s grace would extend to all people of the earth who believe, not just to Israel. Why didn’t they know it?

Because God didn’t wish to reveal His plan and give Satan/men a chance to foil it.

“None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory,” Paul explains in I Corinthians 2:8 (NIV).

Jesus fulfilled Mosaic law and replaced it with a far more powerful law of love and grace. Asked to name the greatest commandments, he said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 22:36-40 NIV) It’s no coincidence that the resurrection of Jesus occurred during the Passover season, as Jews celebrated their ancestors’ miraculous escape from Egyptian slavery.

The 10th plague was death to a first-born child in each household. Israelites who marked their doorposts with the blood of a spring lamb were “passed over” by death.

Jesus is the innocent “lamb of God” who spares us from eternal death. ❚ – Janine Pumilia 12

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Right in Our Region

After 50 Years, RMTD is Still Going Places

By Sara Myers, multimedia editor

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ach day, millions of Americans use public transportation to get to jobs, stores, doctor appointments and more.

Rockford Mass Transit District (RMTD) has provided this service locally for 50 years and will celebrate its anniversary throughout 2021.

“If you don’t want to have the expense of a car or can’t drive, you still have options,” says Lisa Brown, marketing and public relations specialist at RMTD. “We’re far less expensive than Uber for everyday commutes.”

In March, the district celebrates its drivers. For Earth Day, on April 22, RMTD will promote its new fleet of hybrid electric vehicles – a glimpse into the future of mass transit. June brings a celebration of the district’s vehicle technicians. The summer also brings a community service event, and the holiday season promises a special United Way campaign

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and Giving Tree program.

Before RMTD, transportation options in the Rockford area were spotty.

Just as streetcar and trolley services faded away, privately owned bus service was endangered, too, because it’s not necessarily profitable.

“A company would buy a transport service as an auxiliary company, run it as best as they could, and when one was losing money, they would sell it off,” says Brown. “It was a cycle that went on for several years throughout the turn of the century into the 1950s and 1960s. It became very unstable. Transportation wasn’t allowed to grow as the community grew because of that instability.”

This situation wasn’t unique to Rockford and is why cities across the state rallied behind Illinois’ 1971 Mass Transit District Act. “Rockford and other cities, like

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Peoria and Springfield, took this back to their cities and adopted the necessary ordinances because the law gives them a steady funding stream,” says Brown. “It allows them to focus specifically on providing public transportation.”

RMTD is supported partly by fares and partly by state, federal and local subsidies.

“Because of the provisions of the Local Mass Transit Act, we get 65% from the State if we can secure a 35% local match,” says Brown.

RMTD has evolved, figuring out how to sustain night service since 1995 and updating routes to serve areas north, south, west and east rather than downtown and shopping corridors alone.

The 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act meant upgrading the fleet to serve people in need of mobility assistance.

Right in Our Region have a slight physical difference from the older models because there’s a battery cell sitting on the roof.

The commitment to sustainability extends beyond the buses and into RMTD’s facilities. ReNew periwinkle-and-gray RMTD hybrid electric buses have a battery cent renovations to the cell on the roof. downtown RMTD Transfer Center include LED lighting, updated insulation, a solar water “We’ve been working closely with heating system and a new green space. organizations like RAMP and the Barbara RMTD has been an economical Olson Center of Hope over the years and choice for riders for 50 years. According have learned how to offer a service that is to the American Public Transportation helpful and vital,” says Brown.

Association, riding public transportation RMTD is reviewing its carbon footcan save people, on average, more than print. All new vehicles are hybrid elec$816 per month. tric, in accordance with RMTD’s sustainDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, ability policy, and investment is being the district has temporarily suspended made in alternative fuel technology. fares. When it goes back to charging, the The new hybrid electric buses sport cost will be $1.50 each way, with free the district’s bold new branding and logo. transfers. RMTD also offers a variety of These periwinkle-and-gray buses also

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discounted passes.

The district recently introduced a mobile fare app that makes fare-paying hands-free.

COVID-19 safety protocol limits passenger capacity to 14 people per bus, with shuttle buses available for overflow when demand is high. In general, COVID has diminished ridership.

“This is truly unfortunate because prior to COVID, we were showing modest gains in ridership,” says Brown.

As the world changes, the RMTD team continually evaluates how to provide the best possible service to the Rockford area, says Brown.

“It would be lovely if more people would choose public transportation,” she says. “Or, at least choose public transportation a couple of days a week to help the environment, their pocketbooks and our service. Heightening the awareness of how vital we are and what we can do for our community is our goal now and into the future.” ❚

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